Your bank account was attached: what is protected, and how to ask for its release

Your account was attached: what is protected, in short

Even after the bank has received an attachment order, not all the money in the account can be attached:

An important exception: when the debt is a maintenance debt, the protections for wages, for National Insurance Institute benefits and for a self-employed person’s money do not apply. The grants and welfare payments in the table stay protected, except for an attachment by the landlord for the rent debt for which the grant was given.

How an attachment reaches the bank account

The creditor asks the Execution Office to impose an attachment on your money held by a third party, for example the bank. An order served on the bank’s head office applies to all branches, from the moment the notice reached the branch, and at the latest at the end of three business days.

As a rule, the attachment comes after the warning was served on you and the deadlines in it have passed, but the registrar may allow an attachment even before that if the circumstances justify it. In a file on the expedited track, for a debt of up to NIS 25,000, the main steps are attachment of money held by a third party and attachment of a vehicle.

A salary paid into the account: protected for a month

The Wage Protection Law provides that part of the monthly wage is exempt from attachment: an amount equal to the income support benefit (according to the table in the Income Support Law) that would have been paid to you based on your family composition. If that amount is more than 80% of the net wage, the protected amount is 80% of the net wage. “Net” here means the wage after the deductions the employer must make by law.

The protection also applies to wages that the employer transferred to the bank, for a month from the payment date. In other words, a salary paid into the attached account is not entirely open to attachment just because it passed through the bank. A pension paid by an employer or by a provident fund counts as wages for this protection (section 8(e) of the Wage Protection Law).

If the amount in the table is more than 80% of the net wage, the protected amount is 80% of the net wage. The amounts are updated with the income support benefit rates.

A National Insurance Institute benefit: protected for 30 days

The right to a cash benefit from the National Insurance Institute is exempt from attachment, except for payment of maintenance under a judgment. The protection also applies to a benefit paid to the bank, for 30 days from the day it was paid. The bank may set off against the benefit only an amount it gave you on account of it.

What else cannot be attached

Under section 50 of the Execution Law, the following cannot be attached in the hands of a third party, and an attachment order on “all the assets” does not catch them:

• any asset that is exempt from attachment under another law;
• maintenance owed to you by the person liable for it under a judgment or an approved agreement: it cannot be attached in the hands of the person who pays it (section 50(a)(2));
• for someone who is not an employee: money owed to them, up to the amount of wages exempt from attachment;
• a rent assistance grant, and certain payments from the Ministry of Welfare (escort allowance, assistance to families in need and more), for 30 days from the day they were paid;
• the income support benefit for new immigrants from the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, and payments under government programs to help single parents, for 30 days from the day they were paid (section 50(a)(9)–(10));
• money owed to you under the health services basket, drug insurance, insurance for transplants or for surgery abroad, and long-term care insurance.

Payment order, arrangement or full payment: what removes the attachment

• Full payment: the file is closed 30 days after the notice to the creditor, and the attachments are removed.
• An arrangement with the creditor: the creditor notifies the Execution Office, and the proceedings are stayed as long as the creditor has not given notice that the arrangement was breached.
• Consolidation of files: the application itself does not stop the proceedings; the registrar may order, in the consolidation order, that proceedings in the files be stopped or suspended.
• A payment order: you ask the registrar for it with a statement about your financial situation and documents. You received a warning: what to do, and by when.

Frequently asked questions

Can a salary that has already gone into the bank account be attached?

Only the part above the protected amount. The part equal to the income support benefit for your family composition (and no more than 80% of the net wage) is protected in the account too, for a month from the payment date (section 8 of the Wage Protection Law). For a maintenance debt, this protection does not apply.

Can a Bituach Leumi (National Insurance) benefit be attached?

No, except for payment of maintenance under a judgment. The benefit is protected in the bank account too, for 30 days from the day it was paid (section 303 of the National Insurance Law).

The attachment came before I received a warning. Is that allowed?

Sometimes. The rule is that enforcement starts after the warning is served and the deadline in it has passed, but the Execution Registrar may allow a step before that when the circumstances justify it. On the expedited track too, an attachment can be requested before the warning is served (section 20E(b) of the Execution Law).

Does the attachment apply to all my accounts at the same bank?

An order served on the bank’s head office applies to your money in all branches, from the moment the notice reached the branch, and at the latest at the end of three business days. An order served on one branch applies only to the money in that branch, from the moment of service (section 45A(b)).

I’m self-employed. What is protected in my case?

Money owed to someone who is not an employee is protected from attachment in the hands of a third party up to the amount of wages exempt from attachment (section 50(a)(3) of the Execution Law).