A plaintiff has served a writ of garnishment on your bank, your employer, your account debtors, or another third party holding your assets. The release of garnishment bond — sometimes called a dissolution of garnishment bond — substitutes the bond for the garnishment, releasing the frozen funds back to you (or your normal payee). We write release bonds in every state that permits garnishment and in federal court under FRCP 64.
A plaintiff has served a writ of garnishment on a third party — typically your bank, your employer, an account debtor, an escrow holder, a customer. The writ commands the garnishee to hold whatever of yours they are holding (account balances, wages, payments due) and surrender it to the court if the plaintiff prevails. The funds are frozen. Your operating business cannot meet payroll, your personal finances seize up, your customers cannot pay you because their payments are being intercepted.
The release of garnishment bond ends that immediately. The defendant posts surety equal to (typically) the amount of the garnishment. The court dissolves the writ. The garnishee resumes normal payment. The frozen funds — wages, account balances, receivables — flow normally. The underlying case continues to judgment on the same merits, but the plaintiff's pre-judgment security shifts from the specific frozen assets to the surety bond.
Mechanically the release bond plays the same role for garnishment that the dissolution bond plays for attachment and the release bond plays for mechanic's liens: alternate security. The plaintiff is not deprived of protection; the protection simply moves from the specific assets to the bond. The defendant regains control of normal cash flow and operating relationships.
Garnishment is a state-law remedy that federal court adopts under FRCP 64. Each state has its own framework for both plaintiff-side garnishment and defendant-side release. Most states provide for release by bond as a matter of right; a handful require a brief showing on motion. The bond amount, the filing deadline, and the procedural requirements are state-specific.
Release of garnishment bonds are underwritten on the strength of the defendant's financial position and the size of the underlying claim. Most bonds are written same-day on standard application terms. The risk profile is moderate: the bond replaces specific frozen assets as security, but the defendant remains liable on the underlying claim, and the surety's indemnity is from the same party whose assets were frozen.
Three items start the file: the writ of garnishment itself, the plaintiff's underlying complaint, and a financial statement for the defendant principal. Where the garnishment runs against an operating business's payroll or accounts receivable, additional context on the business's cash flow and customer relationships strengthens the file.
Release of garnishment work is often urgent — payroll is in five days, the operating account is dry, customers cannot pay because their payments are being intercepted. Time-sensitive applications go directly to the live underwriting desk and we deliver PDFs for same-day filing.
Send the writ and the underlying complaint. Our underwriters open the file and respond immediately, 7/52/365.