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Levy - and Confusion - Placed on Account
A and B are married and are joint checking account holders in IL. A child support enforcement agency in OK placed a levy on the joint checking account i.e., CSE/DHS.
Person A (or new spouse) deposits into the account every two weeks and is not responsible for CS, but Person B is, who isn't working, but in college. Can DHS legally take from Person A even when the new spouse provided burden of proof of the funds belonging to them? The second spouse has children of her own?
FYI, Person B asked for a "Right to Review" the support order and the agency denied his rights for a review. Instead they intercepted my paycheck and income tax refund during tax season by placing a bank levy on the account, followed with continuous overlapping levies until the second spouse income tax refund was received. I did file an "injured spouse" form on my income tax, and the IRS divided our refund appropriately. Can this help me in court? Would the judge be obligated to return the funds to the rightful owner, the taxpayer?
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 A joint account is a pool of funds that each joint owner has full use of, regardless of who put the funds there. There's no allocation of those rights based on contribution. Because Person B has full rights to the account, any legal attachment or levy against property of Person B can reach all of the funds in the account. That includes a tax refund deposited into the account by or for the benefit of Person A, the other joint account owner.
If you need to protect your assets from the debts of your husband, keep no more than absolutely necessary in a joint account. Keep the bulk of your funds in an individually-held account in your name. Relative to your rights to recover any of the levied funds, you will have to consult legal counsel for that question.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 10/02/08
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