How to Issue or Respond to an Information Subpoena

An information subpoena is a post-judgment discovery tool: once a creditor has won a money judgment, it’s a set of written questions sent to the debtor or to a third party like a bank or employer, demanding sworn answers about where the debtor’s money and property actually sit. The term comes from New York practice, but every state has some version of post-judgment written discovery, whether it’s called interrogatories in aid of execution, a debtor’s examination, or supplementary proceedings. What follows covers who can send one, what has to be in it, how to serve and respond, how to push back, and what the creditor can actually do with the answers.

Who Can Send One, and to Whom

The threshold requirement is a valid, unpaid money judgment. Without one, there is no legal basis to demand anyone’s financial records. The judgment also has to be currently enforceable, meaning not expired and not already satisfied. In federal court, the creditor’s right to post-judgment discovery comes directly from the rule governing execution, which allows discovery “from any person—including the judgment debtor.”¹

The debtor is the obvious recipient, but third parties are often the better target. Banks, employers, brokerage firms, and insurance companies usually know more about a debtor’s finances than the debtor is willing to volunteer, and they have no incentive to hide assets. Reaching out to them is one of the most effective moves in post-judgment collection.

What the Subpoena Must Contain

Every subpoena has to identify the issuing court, the full case title with both parties’ names exactly as they appear in court records, and the civil action number assigned by the clerk.² Pull these details straight from the court file. Any mistake gives the recipient a procedural reason to challenge the whole thing.

The substance is a set of written questions, sometimes called interrogatories. They should be specific. Vague demands for “all financial records” invite objections; targeted questions get usable answers. The categories that typically matter:

Bank accounts: financial institution names, account types, and approximate balances
Employment: current employer, address, pay frequency, and gross earnings
Real estate: addresses and estimated values of property the debtor owns
Vehicles and other titled property
Other income: rental payments, business interests, regular payments from third parties

Form templates are usually available from the local court clerk’s office or the state court administration’s website. Including the debtor’s last known address and any identifying information you already have helps third parties like banks match records to the right person.

Serving the Subpoena

This is where creditors most often blow the process. Under federal rules, service requires physical delivery of a copy to the named person. Mailing alone is not enough.² The person delivering it must be at least 18 and cannot be a party to the case. Many states follow the same personal-delivery rule; some allow certified mail with a return receipt. Check the jurisdiction’s rules before choosing a method.

When the recipient is a company, you have to serve its registered agent. Every state requires businesses to designate someone authorized to accept legal documents. Handing papers to a bank teller at a branch does not count. Registered agent information is available through the state’s secretary of state database.

If the subpoena requires attendance or testimony, a witness fee must be tendered at the time of service. In federal court that is $40 per day plus mileage.³ State fees vary. The fee has to accompany the subpoena itself; leaving it out gives the recipient a basis to refuse compliance.

Responding After You’re Served

Once service is complete, the deadline runs fast. Under federal rules, a recipient who intends to object must do so within 14 days of service or by the compliance date, whichever is earlier.² State deadlines are often shorter. Responses must be complete and truthful, and in most jurisdictions they must be signed under oath before a notary. That sworn certification gives the answers the same weight as courtroom testimony, so a lie exposes the signer to perjury consequences.

If you are a third party like a bank or an employer, responding does not make you the debtor’s adversary. You are complying with a legal obligation. Answer only what the questions ask, provide accurate records, and keep copies of everything you send. Partial or evasive answers tend to produce a motion to compel, which costs more time than straight answers would have.

How to Challenge an Information Subpoena

Receiving one does not mean handing everything over. The primary mechanism to push back is a motion to quash or modify. A court must quash a subpoena that would require disclosure of privileged or otherwise protected material when no exception applies, and courts may quash or limit one that would reveal trade secrets or confidential commercial information.²

Common grounds for challenge:

Procedural defects, such as improper service, missing witness fees, or incorrect case information
Privilege, including attorney-client, spousal, or another recognized protection
Undue burden, especially on a third party with no stake in the dispute
Overbreadth, where the questions go well beyond what is relevant to locating collectible assets

When withholding on privilege grounds, the recipient has to expressly claim the privilege and describe the withheld material in enough detail for the other side to evaluate the claim, without revealing the protected content itself.² Ignoring the subpoena is not a challenge. File the motion before the response deadline passes.

What Happens If You Ignore One

People underestimate this. A creditor whose subpoena goes unanswered can file a motion to compel. If the recipient keeps ignoring the resulting court order, the court can hold them in contempt.² Contempt means daily-accruing fines, an order to pay the creditor’s attorney fees for enforcing compliance, and in extreme cases an arrest warrant.

Lying is worse than silence. Sworn answers that contain deliberate misrepresentations expose the signer to perjury charges and court sanctions. If a debtor hides accounts that the creditor later finds through other means, the judge will remember that when ruling on the next motion.

What the Creditor Still Can’t Touch

Even perfect compliance with a subpoena doesn’t put everything on the table. Federal and state law shield certain income and property from judgment creditors.

Protected Income

Social Security benefits cannot be subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or any other legal process.⁴ Veterans’ benefits and most other federal benefit payments carry similar protections, and unemployment and disability benefits are generally exempt too.

Wages can be garnished, but only within strict limits. A creditor cannot take more than 25% of a debtor’s disposable earnings for any workweek. There is also a floor tied to the federal minimum wage: if weekly disposable earnings are less than 40 times the minimum hourly wage, the garnishable amount drops further; at or below 30 times the minimum wage, nothing can be garnished.⁵ State law may impose lower caps, and the debtor gets whichever rule is more protective.

Protected Property

Retirement accounts in qualified ERISA plans receive broad protection. Pension plan benefits generally cannot be assigned to or seized by creditors.⁶ This covers 401(k) plans, traditional pensions, and most employer-sponsored retirement accounts. IRAs are also protected, though the extent depends on the account type and whether bankruptcy is involved. In bankruptcy, the aggregate IRA exemption is capped at $1,711,975 as of 2025.⁷

States layer their own exemptions on top: a portion of home equity, a vehicle up to a set value, basic household goods, tools of the trade. These vary enormously. A homestead exemption might protect a few thousand dollars of equity in one state and unlimited equity in another. Chasing exempt property wastes time, so creditors should check the debtor’s state exemptions before building a collection strategy.

Turning the Answers Into Money

The subpoena is the investigation phase. Collecting is a separate step. The standard tool is a writ of execution, which directs a law enforcement officer to enforce the judgment by seizing specific property.¹ The common collection methods:

Bank account levy, which freezes and seizes funds up to the judgment amount
Wage garnishment, a continuing order to the employer to withhold part of each paycheck, subject to the federal caps above
Property liens recorded against real estate the debtor owns, which must be cleared before a sale with clear title
Turnover orders, which compel the debtor to deliver specific assets to the creditor or a court-appointed receiver

The mechanics of each follow the law of the state where the court sits, even in federal cases.¹ A bank levy in Texas does not look the same as one in Ohio, even on an identical federal judgment. A local collections attorney makes a real difference here.

When the Answers Show Nothing to Collect

Sometimes the subpoena confirms the worst case: no non-exempt assets. A debtor whose only income is Social Security, who rents, and who keeps nothing meaningful in the bank is effectively judgment-proof. The judgment is still valid and the debt is still owed; there is simply nothing to seize right now.

That state is not necessarily permanent. Judgments last for years and can usually be renewed. Most states set initial enforcement periods between 5 and 20 years, with renewal available. A debtor who later gets a job, inherits property, or opens a brokerage account becomes collectible, and the creditor can run a fresh round of post-judgment discovery at that point. For creditors, the question becomes whether periodic monitoring is worth the chance of future recovery. For debtors, being judgment-proof today is not the same as the debt disappearing. It follows you until the judgment expires or is paid.

1
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 69 – Execution
2
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 1821 – Per Diem and Mileage Generally
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 407 – Assignment of Benefits
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 US Code 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 US Code 1056 – Form and Payment of Benefits
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 522 – Exemptions