58.1-3952 - Collection out of estate in hands of or debts due by third party.
§ 58.1-3952. Collection out of estate in hands of or debts due by third party.
A. The treasurer or other tax collector of any county, city or town may applyin writing to any person indebted to or having in his hands estate of ataxpayer or other debtor for payment of taxes, or other charges collected bythe treasurer, more than thirty days delinquent out of such debt or estate.Payment by such person of such taxes, penalties and interest, or othercharges either in whole or in part, shall entitle him to a credit againstsuch debt or estate. The taxes, penalties and interest, or other chargesshall constitute a lien on the debt or estate due the taxpayer or otherdebtor from the time the application is received. For each application servedthe person applied to shall be entitled to a fee of twenty dollars whichshall constitute a charge or credit against the debt to or estate of thetaxpayer or other debtor. The treasurer or collector shall send a copy of theapplication to the taxpayer or other debtor, with a notice informing him ofthe remedies provided in this chapter.
If the person applied to does not pay so much as ought to be recovered out ofthe debt or estate, the treasurer or collector shall procure a summonsdirecting such person to appear before the appropriate court, where properpayment may be enforced. Any person so summoned shall have the same rights ofremoval and appeal as are provided by law for the enforcement of demandsbetween individuals. For purposes of this section, the term "person" shallinclude but shall not be limited to individuals, corporations, partnerships,institutions, and other such entities, as well as the Commonwealth and itsagencies and political subdivisions. However, in no event shall theCommonwealth, its agencies, or its political subdivisions incur any liabilityfor the failure to pay the treasurer's or other tax collector's applicationunder this section.
B. Unless otherwise exempted, the wages and salaries of all employees of thisCommonwealth, other than state officers, shall be subject to this section.Whenever the salary or wages of such employees as above mentioned shall be soattached, the application shall be mailed to the debtor and to the officer orsupervisor who is head of the department, agency, or institution where theemployee is employed, or other officer through whom the debtor's salary orwages is paid, provided that process shall not be served upon the StateTreasurer or the State Comptroller except as to employees of their respectivedepartments, and upon such service the officer or supervisor shall, on orbefore the return day of the application, transmit to the treasurer or othertax collector issuing the application a certificate showing the amount duefrom the Commonwealth to such debtor, up to the return day of theapplication, which amount the officer or supervisor shall hold subject tofurther instruction from the treasurer or other tax collector. However, in nocase shall the officer or supervisor hold more than the sum of taxes,penalties and interest, and other charges stated in the application. Suchcertificate shall be evidence of all facts therein stated, unless a court ofappropriate jurisdiction directs that the deposition of the officer orsupervisor, or such other officer through whom the debtor's salary or wagesbe paid, be taken, in which event the deposition of the officer or supervisorshall be taken in his office and returned to the clerk of the court in whichthe summons is, just as other depositions are returned, and in no such caseshall the officer or supervisor be required to leave his office to testify.In all proceedings under this section, the amount found to be due the debtorby the Commonwealth shall be paid as directed by the court.
(Code 1950, § 58-1010; 1960, c. 573; 1983, c. 481; 1984, c. 675; 1991, c.445; 1994, c. 153; 1997, c. 496; 2002, c. 64.)