Seizure of bank account

Pursuant to subsection 115 (1) of the Code of Enforcement Procedure, a claim for payment may be made on a debtor’s account, with the exception of a business income account opened on the basis of the Simplified Business Income Taxation Act to the extent of any amount reserved to cover business income tax. A credit institution issues information to a bailiff concerning the existence or absence of an account. If your income is partly or fully paid into a current account, you must prove this. If you have failed to inform the bailiff that you income is paid into a current account or about the bank that you use, your accounts will be seized in all banks on the basis of an instrument of seizure to the extent indicated therein. The money in the account is transferred to the occupational current account of the bailiff in the amount indicated in the seizure act, unless a ruling on securing an action other than a ruling on securing an action concerning a claim for child support made during court proceedings is the enforcement instrument. If, at the moment of seizure, money to the extent indicated in the instrument of seizure is not on the account of a debtor, the amounts received on the account after the moment of seizure are also deemed to be seized up to the outstanding amount. The amounts received on the account after the moment of seizure will be transferred to the official bank account of a bailiff until the enforcement of the instrument of seizure. Basis: subsection 115 (2) of the Code of Enforcement Procedure.

If the debtor has failed to inform the bailiff about their income by submitting the relevant form where they declare and prove that their income is received on a current account, the bailiff may presume that the debtor receives income in cash and all of money in the debtor’s bank account will be subject to seizure after the expiry of the deadline for voluntary payment.

The bailiff will allow you the minimum means of subsistence prescribed by law if your income is received on your own current account. In order to allow the bailiff to apply the minimum not subject to seizure to you, you must prove that income not subject to seizure is received on your account. § 132 of the Code of Enforcement Procedure stipulates that income will not be seized if it does not exceed the amount of minimum wages prescribed for one month. If making a claim for payment on other assets of a debtor has not led to or presumably does not lead to complete satisfaction of a claim, up to 20 percent of the minimum wage may be seized. Income is not seized if it is less than the established subsistence level. Various types of income are listed in § 131 (wages, benefits, pension). If you do not receive any wages, the minimum to the extent of income not subject to seizure (pension, benefit) is left to you.

If you will receive income that may not be seized (the benefits, wages, compensation, pension specified in § 131 of the Code of Enforcement Procedure), you must inform the bailiff about this and submit the relevant certificates. If you can obtain a certificate about the size of an amount from the payer before you receive the amount (copy of the employment contract upon commencement of employment), then the change can be made before the receipt and if you cannot obtain it, you should wait until the money is received on your account, submit the account statement and apply for a refund of the money if necessary. You can apply for a refund if the application is submitted within three working days of seizure. You will find the refund application form under Debtors – Forms – Application for refund of amount not subject to seizure.

If you have not informed the bailiff that your income is received on your bank account, of the bank in which you hold the account you use and of the income you’re getting, it may happen that the amounts not subject to seizure received by you will be seized. Once the seizure has taken place, please send your application for a refund of the minimum not subject to seizure immediately, but not later than three days after the seizure of the income transferred to your account. You will find the application form at Debtors – Forms – Application for refund of minimum not subject to seizure. You can submit the application by e-mail, ordinary mail or deliver it yourself. Please enclose an account statement, which shows the origin of the income, with the application for refund of the minimum not subject to seizure. Money is received on the occupational current account of the bailiff as a seizure and the bailiff cannot identify the origin of the money. Pursuant to law, the bailiff transfers the money received by way of seizure to the claimant within ten working days, but not earlier than three days after the receipt of the money. Basis: § 43 of the Code of Enforcement Procedure.