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attachment

attachment

2 8.4
A court order to take someone's property to pay a debt
  • noun
  • /əˈtæʧmənt/
  • Formal
translation icon : embargo
  • To enforce the judgment, the lawyer filed an attachment against the defendant's assets.

Examples

  • In many instances, these situations arise after a formal charge has been filed, and the attachment of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel is not at issue.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Legal attachment to collect for the credit.

  • With a writ of attachment.

  • I'm to take up this attachment unless you've got money.

  • In the meantime, wrongful arrest claims are often found in cases of prejudgment attachment in Korea.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Finally, there have been several district court rulings that have also recognized pre-indictment attachment, specifically in the context of pre-indictment plea negotiations.

    Academic text (2017)
  • It gets pretty tough sometimes dodging Apaches when you have to... serve writs of attachment on outlying ranches and mines and sawmills.

  • The court issued a writ of attachment to seize the debtor's property in order to satisfy the judgment.

  • After winning the lawsuit, the plaintiff was granted an attachment to secure payment from the defendant's bank account.

Synonyms

fieri facias
vsattachment
  • UK
9.9

An order to take someone's property to pay a debt

is a general court order authorizing seizure rather than a named writ
distraint
vsattachment
  • UK
9.9

The legal taking of someone's property to get money they owe

is used after a court judgment rather than mainly for rent collection

Antonyms

279 1.8

An act of letting someone or something go free from being held

How Complete

forfeiture
  • Specialized
10 8.0
confiscation
15 5.4
sequestration
  • Formal
1 9.4
attachment
  • Formal
2 8.4
lien
  • Specialized
30 9.4

Surface Forms

attachment singular
attachments plural

Morphology

attachment = attach (opaque) = attach + ment

The legal sense 'seizure of property' is a specialized legal usage that is not predictable from the general meaning 'to attach'.

Etymology

Attachment comes from attach meaning 'to fasten' and -ment, and in law it means property is 'fastened' to a court order so it can be taken to pay a debt, which is why an attachment is a legal seizure of assets.