Wrongful Garnishment Law and Legal Definition
Wrongful garnishment refers to improperly obtaining or tortiously employing the remedy of garnishment.
A party is entitled to garnish property only where the garnishee in fact owes a debt to the garnishor, and where the garnishee owns a beneficial interest in the property garnished. Where these facts do not appear, a claim for wrongful garnishment arises even where the garnishing party acted without malice and had probable cause to believe garnishment was appropriate. Further, some jurisdictions recognize the applicability of a wrongful garnishment claim where property that belongs to a debtor is statutorily exempted from garnishment. [Vanover v. Cook, 260 F.3d 1182 (10th Cir. Kan. 2001)].
