When you get a tax garnishment for a customer that has multiple accounts, how do you decide which accounts you take money from? I can't recall us ever getting a garnishment where a customer had enough money that we would take money from some accounts and not others. I can make the call based on reviewing the account and choosing what I think is best but just not sure how that is typically handled. Thanks for any input!

State law undoubtedly plays a part but I look at the sig card to be sure the "target" is truly an owner on each account. Then I take funds from the account that has a balance large enough to satisfy the order. If none of them do, I start with the largest balance and work my way down. Don't forget to check for protected Federal benefits.

Absent state law (and I doubt you will find any) It's a pure judgment call. If the garnishee is an owner on accounts in his own name and accounts owned jointly with others, I would take the individually owned accounts first. Then, I would go for joint accounts with a spouse, leaving joint accounts with others until last.

It's kind of difficult for someone to explain to a parent why their joint account vanished...