Despite the fact that Texas does not allow a judgment creditor to garnish your wages directly from your employer, Texas law does permit your bank accounts to be garnished. Consequently, when you deposit your salary into a bank account, that account can be frozen if your judgment creditor applies to the court for a writ of garnishment of your accounts. Actually, your judgment creditor can reach your bank deposits regardless of the name on the account if the funds in the account are owed to you. Frankfurt's Texas Investment Corp. v. Trinity Savings & Loan Ass'n, 414 S.W.2d 190, 195 (Tex. Civ. App- Dallas 1967, writ ref'd n.r.e.).
Your judgment creditor may also get to your bank account even if community property funds are in the account. Tatum State Bank v. Gibson, 24 S.W.2d 506, 507 (Tex. Civ. App.-Texarkana 1930, no writ); Brooks v. Sherry Lane National Bank, 788 S.W.2d 874, 876 (Tex. App.-Dallas 1990, no writ). But, bank accounts are not the only property you may own which are subject to garnishment. Other frequently garnished assets are:
a. Safe-deposit boxes
Your judgment creditor may reach the contents of your safe-deposit box even if your bank doesn't know what is in the box. Blanks v. Radford, 188 S.W.2d 879, 886 (Tex. Civ. App.-Eastland 1945, writ ref'd w.o.m.).
b. Stock
Every stock you own is expressly subject to garnishment under Tex. R. Civ. P. 669.
c. Promissory note
If someone is repaying you money on a promissory note to you, that note can be garnished. Thompson v. Gainesville National Bank, 18 S.W. 350 (Tex. 1886); Davis v. First National Bank, 135 S.W.2d 259, 261 (Tex. Civ. App.- Waco 1939, no writ). In other words, your debtor on the note will have to make the repayments to your judgment creditor.
d. A Trust fund to which you're a beneficiary
Investments in a trust fund and the revenue from trust funds can be garnished. The only exception is when the trust fund is a spend-thrift trust. Nunn v. Titche-Goettinger Co., 245 S.W. 421, 422-23 (Tex. Comm'n App. 1922, judgm't adopted); Bank of Dallas v. Republic National Bank of Dallas, 540 S.W.2d 499, 501-02 (Tex. Civ. App.-Waco 1976, writ ref'd n.r.e.).
e. Judgments You Possess
If you're a judgment creditor in another matter, that judgment can be garnished. Industrial Indemnity Co. v. Texas American Bank-Riverside, 784 S.W.2d 114, 119-120 (Tex. App.-Fort Worth 1990, no writ). In other words, your judgment debtor in that case will pay your judgment creditor in the matter in which you're the judgment debtor.
Consequently, just because Texas doesn't allow your wages to be garnished to collect a judgment, do not think you are absolutely immune to other kinds of garnishment. An aggressive judgment creditor still has lots of options available to enforce a judgment against you.