Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Re: garnishment summons

Sorry to hear all of that.

First, are you sure it is a garnishment summons? If so, there are two types: (1) garnishment of a bank account and (2) garnishment of wages.

You are not required to appear, but you will not be able to raise any objections if you don't.

If the garnishment is directed to a bank, the bank must pull all money out of ANY accounts with your name on them (not just one, but all held by that bank), and pay it over to the creditor.

If you share the account with someone else, you can file an objection (or the other person can) and they will have to hold a hearing promptly. The court will try to figure out how much of the money in the joint account is yours, as opposed to someone else's.

It is possible to "garnish" payments from one of your clients, but most attorneys do not know to do this or know how to do this and it is extremely rare.

It is unlikely that they could attach a judgment on the property, at least not without jumping through a lot of hoops. Depdnign on how the business is organized, they would first have to attach the stock that you own, for example. Generally speaking it is possible but very hard and takes a lot of steps, work, and time.