Maryland Judgment Against a Married Debtor — Tenancy by the Entireties and Collection Limits

You won a judgment against someone who's married. Their spouse wasn't part of the lawsuit. Now you're trying to garnish a bank account — and the bank says the account is held jointly with the spouse and may be protected. Welcome to Maryland's tenancy by the entireties doctrine.

What Tenancy by the Entireties Means for Collection

In Maryland, married couples can hold property — including bank accounts, real estate, and vehicles — as "tenants by the entireties." This form of ownership treats the married couple as a single legal unit. The critical consequence for creditors: property held as tenants by the entireties cannot be seized to satisfy the debt of only one spouse.

This means if you have a judgment against John but not Jane, and their bank account is held jointly as tenants by the entireties, you can't garnish it. Their house titled that way can't have a lien enforced against it. Their jointly titled car can't be levied.

Maryland recognizes this protection for property actually held as tenants by the entireties. Whether a particular account or property has that ownership depends on how it was titled and established; do not assume that every joint account qualifies.

What You Can Reach

Not everything is off-limits. You can enforce your judgment against:

• The debtor's individually owned bank accounts — accounts in the debtor's name alone, without the spouse
• The debtor's individually owned real estate — property titled only in the debtor's name
• The debtor's wages — wage garnishment attaches to the debtor's individual earnings, regardless of marital status
• Individual personal property — vehicles, equipment, or other assets titled solely to the debtor

Wage garnishment is often the most reliable collection tool against a married debtor because earnings belong to the individual employee until they're deposited. Once those wages land in a joint account held as tenants by the entireties, the protection can attach.

How the Exemption Plays Out in Bank Garnishment

When you serve a writ of garnishment on a bank holding a joint account, the bank files its Confession of Assets (Form DC-CV-061). Separately from tenancy by the entireties, CJP § 11-603(a) makes a garnishment against a bank account held jointly by spouses and opened before judgment invalid unless both spouses are judgment debtors; the non-debtor spouse can raise this protection.

If the court finds the account is protected, the funds are released. That release does not itself reimburse the creditor's filing or service fees.

The account may still be held while the court considers a claimed exemption. Keep records showing when it was opened and who is named on it.

Strategies for Creditors

Before filing a bank garnishment, find out whether the debtor's accounts are individual or joint. Maryland courts cannot compel an individual to answer interrogatories or appear for an examination to enforce a small-claims judgment (CJP § 11-704). Those discovery procedures may be used in cases outside that limit.

For a judgment where post-judgment discovery is available, written interrogatories and an oral examination (Form DC-CV-032) can ask about the nature of the debtor's accounts and property.

If the debtor's only liquid assets are in joint accounts with their spouse, your realistic options narrow to wage garnishment and placing a judgment lien on any individually owned real estate.

One important note: the entireties protection applies only to debts of one spouse. If both spouses are judgment debtors — say you sued both of them and won — that protection does not apply, though other exemptions may.

For a complete breakdown of every enforcement tool and exemption in Maryland judgment collection, see our Maryland judgment collection guide.

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