14.5.4.7 What If the Debtor Wants to Pay the Debt?

Occasionally a debtor may want to allow a garnishment to be implemented in whole or in part as a way of paying the debt. For example, the debtor may want to protect other non-exempt assets and may be able to work out a release of the entire debt in exchange for allowing the bank to pay some part of the protected amount to the creditor. The rule allows this, but only if the bank receives an express written instruction that is both dated and provided by the account holder to the bank after the date the garnishment order was served on the bank.⁵¹⁹ These requirements are designed to ensure that an account holder cannot instruct a financial institution in advance or in a standing agreement to use exempt funds to satisfy a garnishment order.⁵²⁰ Other than this exception, “[t]he requirements of the rule may not be changed by agreement.”⁵²¹