                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

COLLECTION OUT OF ESTATE IN HANDS OF OR DEBTS DUE BY THIRD PARTY (§ 58.1-3952)

A. The treasurer or other tax collector of any county, city or town may apply in
writing to any person indebted to or having in his hands estate of a taxpayer or
other debtor for payment of taxes, or other charges collected by the treasurer,
more than thirty days delinquent out of such debt or estate. Payment by such
person of such taxes, penalties and interest, or other charges either in whole
or in part, shall entitle him to a credit against such debt or estate. The
taxes, penalties and interest, or other charges shall constitute a lien on the
debt or estate due the taxpayer or other debtor from the time the application is
received. For each application served the person applied to shall be entitled to
a fee of twenty dollars which shall constitute a charge or credit against the
debt to or estate of the taxpayer or other debtor. The treasurer or collector
shall send a copy of the application to the taxpayer or other debtor, with a
notice informing him of the remedies provided in this chapter.
			If the person applied to does not pay so much as ought to be recovered out of
the debt or estate, the treasurer or collector shall procure a summons directing
such person to appear before the appropriate court, where proper payment may be
enforced. Any person so summoned shall have the same rights of removal and
appeal as are provided by law for the enforcement of demands between
individuals. For purposes of this section, the term &#8220;person&#8221; shall
include but shall not be limited to individuals, corporations, partnerships,
institutions, and other such entities, as well as the Commonwealth and its
agencies and political subdivisions. However, in no event shall the
Commonwealth, its agencies, or its political subdivisions incur any liability
for the failure to pay the treasurer&#8217;s or other tax collector&#8217;s
application under this section.

B. Unless otherwise exempted, the wages and salaries of all employees of this
Commonwealth, other than state officers, shall be subject to this section.
Whenever the salary or wages of such employees as above mentioned shall be so
attached, the application shall be mailed to the debtor and to the officer or
supervisor who is head of the department, agency, or institution where the
employee is employed, or other officer through whom the debtor&#8217;s salary or
wages is paid, provided that process shall not be served upon the State
Treasurer or the State Comptroller except as to employees of their respective
departments, and upon such service the officer or supervisor shall, on or before
the return day of the application, transmit to the treasurer or other tax
collector issuing the application a certificate showing the amount due from the
Commonwealth to such debtor, up to the return day of the application, which
amount the officer or supervisor shall hold subject to further instruction from
the treasurer or other tax collector. However, in no case shall the officer or
supervisor hold more than the sum of taxes, penalties and interest, and other
charges stated in the application. Such certificate shall be evidence of all
facts therein stated, unless a court of appropriate jurisdiction directs that
the deposition of the officer or supervisor, or such other officer through whom
the debtor&#8217;s salary or wages be paid, be taken, in which event the
deposition of the officer or supervisor shall be taken in his office and
returned to the clerk of the court in which the summons is, just as other
depositions are returned, and in no such case shall the officer or supervisor be
required to leave his office to testify. In all proceedings under this section,
the amount found to be due the debtor by the Commonwealth shall be paid as
directed by the court.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 58-1010; 1960, c. 573; 1983, c. 481; 1984, c. 675; 1991,
c. 445; 1994, c. 153; 1997, c. 496; 2002, c. 64.