M.R. Civ. P. 4B

(a) Availability of Trustee Process. In any personal action under these

rules except actions only for specific recovery of goods and chattels, for

malicious prosecution, for slander by writing or speaking, or for assault and

battery, trustee process may be used, in the manner and to the extent provided

by law, but subject to the requirements of this rule, for the purpose of securing

satisfaction of the judgment for damages and costs which the plaintiff may

recover, provided, however, that no person shall be adjudged trustee for any

amount due from that person to the defendant for earnings. The term

“earnings” means compensation paid or payable for personal services, whether

denominated as wages, salary, commissions, bonuses or otherwise, and

includes periodic payments pursuant to a pension or retirement program.

Trustee process under this rule shall not be available before judgment in any

action against a consumer for a debt arising from a consumer credit transaction

as defined by Maine Consumer Credit Code.

(b) Summons to Trustee: Form. The summons to a trustee shall bear the

signature or facsimile signature of the clerk, be under the seal of the court and

contain the name of the court and the names of the parties, be directed to the

trustee, state the name and address of the plaintiff’s attorney, a specified

amount for which the goods or credits of the defendant are attached on trustee

process or specific goods or credits designated by the court for attachment, and

the time within which these rule require the trustee to make disclosure, and

shall notify the trustee that in case of failure to do so the trustee will be

defaulted and adjudged trustee as alleged. The trustee summons shall also

state the name of the justice or judge who entered the order approving

attachment on trustee process and the date thereof.

(c) Same: Service. The trustee summons may be procured in blank from

the clerk and shall be filled out by the plaintiff’s attorney as provided in

subdivision (b) of this rule. The trustee summons shall be served by a sheriff

or a deputy within the sheriff’s county. The plaintiff’s attorney shall deliver to

the officer making service the original trustee summons upon which to make

return of service and a copy thereof for service upon the trustee. The trustee

summons shall be served in like manner and with the same effect as other

process.

No trustee summons may be served unless attachment on trustee process

for a specified amount has been approved by order of the court. Except as

provided in subdivision (i) of this rule, the order of approval may be entered

only after notice to the defendant and hearing and upon a finding by the court

that it is more likely than not that the plaintiff will recover judgment, including

interest and costs, in an aggregate sum equal to or greater than the amount of

the trustee process and any insurance, bond, or other security, and any

property or credits attached by writ of attachment or by other trustee process

shown by the defendant to be available to satisfy the judgment.

Trustee process shall be sought by filing, with the complaint or during the

pendency of the action, a motion for approval of attachment on trustee process.

The motion shall be supported by affidavit or affidavits meeting the

requirements set forth in Rule 4A(i). Except as provided in subdivision (i) of

this rule, the motion and affidavit or affidavits shall be served upon the

defendant in the manner prescribed in either Rule 4 or as permitted by Rule 5.

A defendant opposing a motion for approval of attachment on trustee

process shall file material in opposition as required by Rule 7(c). If the

defendant is deemed to have waived all objection to the motion as provided in

Rule 7(c) for failure to file opposition material within the time therein provided

or as extended, the court shall, without hearing, upon a finding that the plaintiff

is entitled to an attachment under the terms of this subdivision (c), enter an

order of approval of attachment in an appropriate amount.

Any trustee process shall be served within 30 days after the date of the

order approving the attachment. Promptly after the service of the trustee

summons upon the trustee or trustees, a copy of the trustee summons with the

officer’s endorsement thereon of the date or dates of service shall be served

upon the defendant in the manner provided in either Rule 4 or Rule 5.

(d) Approval of Limited Attachment on Trustee Process or Substituted

Security.

(1) Attachment of Specific Property. In the order approving an

attachment on trustee process, the court shall specify that the attachment is to

issue solely against particular goods or credits upon a showing by the

defendant (A) that the goods or credits specified are available for attachment

on trustee process and would, if applied to satisfy any judgment obtained in the

action, yield to the plaintiff an amount at least equal to the amount for which

attachment on trustee process is approved in accordance with the criteria of

subdivision (c), and (B) that the absence of such a limitation will result in

hardship to the defendant.

(2) Alternative Security for a Single Defendant. At the hearing on a

motion for approval of an attachment on trustee process against the goods or

credits of a single defendant, the defendant may tender cash or bond at least

equal to the amount of any attachment to be approved in accordance with the

criteria of subdivision (c). If the court finds that the defendant has tendered

cash in sufficient amount, it shall order that amount to be deposited with the

court as provided in Rule 67 to be held as security for any judgment that the

plaintiff may recover. If the court finds that the defendant has tendered a bond

of sufficient amount and duration and with sufficient sureties, the court shall

order the bond to be filed with the court. A surety upon a bond filed under this

rule is subject to the terms and conditions of Rule 65(c). Upon such deposit or

filing, the court shall further order that any prior attachment on trustee process

against the defendant to satisfy a judgment on the claim for which security has

been tendered shall be dissolved. Thereafter, no further attachment on trustee

process shall issue against the defendant except on motion of the plaintiff and

a showing that the cash deposited or bond filed has become inadequate or

unavailable to satisfy the judgment.

(3) Single Security for Multiple Defendants. At the hearing for

approval of attachment on trustee process against the goods or credits of two

or more defendants alleged to be jointly and severally liable to the plaintiff, one

or more of the defendants may tender cash or bond sufficient, in the aggregate,

to satisfy the total amount the plaintiff would be entitled to recover upon

execution against all such defendants. Upon the findings required by paragraph

(2) of this subdivision for a single defendant, the court may order the cash to be

deposited or the bond filed with the court on the same conditions and with the

same effect provided in that paragraph.

(e) Disclosure by Trustee; Subsequent Proceedings. A trustee shall serve

that trustee’s disclosure under oath within 20 days after the service of the

trustee summons upon that trustee, unless the court otherwise directs. The

proceedings after service of the trustee’s disclosure shall be as provided by law.

When a trustee reports for examination, notice thereof shall be served upon the

attorney for the plaintiff, and upon motion the court shall fix a time for the

disclosure to be made. Before the disclosure is presented to the court for

adjudication, there shall be noted on the document the name of the attorney for

the plaintiff, the name of the trustee with the date of the service of the summons

upon that trustee, and the docket number of the action.

(f) Adjudication and Judgment. The proceedings for adjudication on the

disclosure of the trustee and for the rendition and execution of judgment and

the imposition of costs shall be as provided by law.

(g) Trustee Process on Counterclaim, Cross-Claim or Third-Party

Complaint. Trustee process may be used by a party bringing a counterclaim, a

cross-claim, or a third-party complaint in the same manner as upon an original

claim, provided that the trustee resides or, if a corporation, maintains a usual

place of business, in the county where the action is pending. If the counterclaim

is compulsory under Rule 13(a), the party stating it may use trustee process,

even though the trustee does not reside or maintain a usual place of business

in the county where the action is pending.

(h) Subsequent or Additional Trustee Process. If no trustee process has

issued, or if the time period prescribed in subdivision (c) of this rule for serving

trustee process has expired, the court on motion may issue an order of approval

for an additional attachment on trustee process. The provisions of subdivisions

(c), (d), and (i) of this rule apply to the motion and any trustee process ordered

thereunder, except that notice if appropriate shall be served upon the

defendant in the manner provided in Rule 5.

(i) Ex Parte Hearings on Trustee Process. An order approving trustee

process for a specified amount may be entered ex parte only if the court grants

an ex parte motion for approval of attachment on trustee process as provided

in subdivision (c) of this rule. Upon the filing of the motion, the hearing on the

motion shall be held forthwith. Such order shall issue if the court finds that it

is more likely than not that the plaintiff will recover judgment in an amount

equal to or greater than the aggregate sum of the trustee process and any

insurance, bond or other security, or property or credits attached by writ of

attachment or by other trustee process known or reasonably believed to be

available to satisfy the judgment and that either (i) there is a clear danger that

the defendant if notified in advance of the attachment on trustee process will

withdraw the goods and credits from the hands and possession of the trustee

and remove them from the state or conceal them, or otherwise make them

unavailable to satisfy a judgment, or (ii) there is immediate danger that the

defendant will dissipate the credits, or damage or destroy the goods, to be

attached on trustee process. A maximum of one hundred dollars of demand

bank accounts of the defendant held by any one trustee shall, however, be

exempt from trustee process approved by an ex parte order under this

subdivision. The motion for an ex parte order under this subdivision shall be

accompanied by a certificate by the plaintiff’s attorney of the amount of any

insurance, bond, or other security, and any other attachment or trustee process

which the attorney knows or has reason to believe will be available to satisfy

any judgment against the defendant in the action. The motion, in the filing of

which the plaintiff’s attorney shall be subject to the obligations of Rule 11, shall

be supported by affidavit or affidavits meeting the requirements set forth in

Rule 4A(i).

(j) Dissolution or Modification of Trustee Process. On 2 days’ notice to

the plaintiff or on such shorter notice as the court may prescribe, any person

having an interest in goods or credits that have been attached on trustee

process pursuant to an ex parte order under subdivision (h) of this rule may

appear, without thereby submitting to the personal jurisdiction of the court,

and move the dissolution or modification of the trustee process, and in that

event the court shall proceed to hear and determine such motion as

expeditiously as the ends of justice require. At such hearing the plaintiff shall

have the burden of justifying any finding in the ex parte order that the moving

party has challenged by affidavit.

Upon motion and notice and a showing by any defendant that specific

property or sufficient cash or bond is available to satisfy a judgment as

provided in subdivision (d) of this rule, the court may modify an order of

attachment on trustee process, whether issued ex parte or after hearing, to limit

the attachment to particular goods or credits or to order cash or bond to be held

by the court as security for the judgment, and to dissolve the prior attachment

as to all other goods or credits of the defendant. If a prior attachment on trustee

process has been perfected as to goods or credits specified in the modified

order, the modified order shall relate back to the original attachment.

Nothing herein shall be construed to abolish or limit any means for

obtaining dissolution, modification or discharge of trustee process that is

otherwise available by law.