ATTACHMENT, in law, the taking into the custody of the law the person or property of one already before the court, or of one whom it is sought to bring before it. Attachment of person: A writ issued by a court of record, com manding the sheriff to bring before it a person who has been guilty of contempt of court, either in neglect or abuse of its process or of subordinate powers. At tachment of property: A writ issued at the institution or during the progress of an action, commanding the sheriff or other proper officer to attach the prop erty, rights, credits or effects of the de fendant to satisfy the demands of the plaintiff. The laws and practice con cerning the attachment vary in different countries.
In the United States attachment may be defined as the taking into the custody of the law the person or property of one who is already before the court, or of one whom it is sought to bring before the court; also a writ for this purpose. To some extent it is of the nature of a criminal process. In some States a plain tiff can at the beginning of an action to recover money attach the property of the defendant as a security for the pay ment of the judgment expected to be re covered; and in case of recovery the property is applied in satisfaction of the judgment. But the more usual rule is
that there can be no seizure of property, except in specified cases, till the rights of the parties have been settled by judg ment of the court. The exceptions are chiefly in cases where the defendant is a non-resident or a fraudulent debtor, or is attempting to conceal or remove his property. In some States, attach ments are distinguished as foreign and domestic—the former issued against a non-resident having property within the jurisdiction of the State, the latter against a resident in the State; jurisdic tion over the person or property being necessary for an attachment. An attach ment issued under a State law which has not been adopted by Congress, or by a rule of court, cannot be sustained in a United States court. Money due to a seaman for wages is not attachable in the hands of a purser, the purser being a distributing agent of the govern ment, and in no sense a debtor of the seaman.