Debt Collection, Garnishment, and Joint Bank Accounts…The Minnesota Supreme Court Consulted

This past summer, the United States District Court (D. Minn. (Ericksen, J.)) certified a number of questions to the Minnesota Supreme Court to be argued before the Minnesota Supreme Court tomorrow morning (12/1/09)  in Savig  vs. First National Bank of Omaha and Messerli & Kramer, P.A., Case No. A09-1221.


The Minnesota Supreme Court will answer three questions put to it by the federal district court:  (1) may a judgment creditor serve a garnishment summons on a joint account to satisfy the debt of an account holder when not all of the account holders are judgment debtors; (2) if so, is it the judgment creditor or the account holders who bear the burden of establishing net contributions to the account during the garnishment proceeding; and (3) if so, what applicable presumptions regarding ownership, if any, apply in the absence of proof of net contributions?


Below is the U.S. District Court’s first pass at the issues raised in the case.


Savig v FNB Omaha >