Quora Answer: Can a Creditor Get a Levy against an Estate Bank Account for My Personal Debts?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Can a creditor get a levy against an estate bank account for my own personal debts?”

A bank levy is a specific legal action allowing creditors to take funds direct from your bank account to pay a debt.  During this process, the bank freezes funds in your account, and the bank is legally required to send that money to creditors to satisfy your debt against them.  However, for that to occur, creditors must furnish a legal judgement to the bank.

In this case, the funds in the bank account belong to the estate, which is a distinct legal entity from you.  As such, your creditors cannot touch those funds despite you being the executor of the estate.  They cannot even touch the funds even if you are the heir, unless those funds are in your possession.  They can only take a levy against funds that are proven to be yours.

However, even if the funds are in your account, you may still dispute the levy.  During the dispute process, the levy may not take place.  If you can provide proof that the funds are not yours, or that the funds are from subsidies and handouts from the government, the bank will not approve the levy.  It is important to understand that the bank charges for this.