Garnishment of a Self-Employed Debtor's Client Payments
A judgment creditor holds an enforceable Belgian judgment for EUR 18,500 against a debtor who works as an independent graphic designer. The debtor has no salaried employer. The creditor's lawyer asks the bailiff to attach money owed to the debtor by two corporate clients and by a platform that pays him monthly. The bailiff learns the debtor maintains a professional account at a bank and receives payments there, but also that one client has already paid an invoice directly to the debtor last week. The debtor claims a portion of the platform income is needed for essential business costs and household support. The bailiff must decide what to attach, how to protect the debtor's minimum means, and how to handle sums already paid.
1. Can the bailiff attach the sums owed by the clients and the platform, and what is the correct object of the attachment?
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The object of a garnishment is the debt owed by a third party to the debtor at the moment the attachment is served, not the debtor's general income. For each client and the platform, the bailiff must identify whether a sum is still owed when the third-party garnishee receives the attachment. If an invoice was already paid directly to the debtor last week, that sum is no longer owed by the client and cannot be captured by attaching that client; the bailiff should not include it as if it were still outstanding.
For the platform, the bailiff should attach the amounts due or becoming due under the existing contractual relationship, within the limits the law permits, and serve the attachment on the platform as garnishee. The bailiff should also consider whether the professional bank account can be attached, since a bank is a classic garnishee, but must respect rules protecting essential funds. The key judgement is temporal: attachment captures existing debts, so the bailiff must verify the status of each invoice rather than attach a gross annual figure.
2. How should the bailiff address the debtor's claim that part of the income is needed for essential costs and household support?
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The bailiff does not decide entitlement to a minimum income; that is a matter of attachable-amount rules and, if disputed, of the judge. The bailiff should calculate the attachable portion according to the applicable limits, taking into account that the debtor is self-employed and that some protection may apply to sums needed for essential needs. The bailiff should not simply freeze 100% of the platform payments if the law provides a protected threshold.
The debtor's assertion about business costs is relevant but must be substantiated. The bailiff can invite the debtor to provide invoices or a statement, record the claim in the proces-verbaal, and attach only the amount that appears attachable. If the debtor disputes the calculation, the bailiff should explain the remedy of a request to the judge to limit or release the attachment. The professional judgement is to avoid both over-attachment, which exposes the bailiff to liability, and under-attachment, which defeats the creditor. Documenting the calculation and the debtor's objections is essential.