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BriefDiener
DE

Amtsgericht (local court)

Pfändungs- und Überweisungsbeschluss (garnishment order): account or wages seized, what now?

What this letter means

With a Pfändungs- und Überweisungsbeschluss (garnishment order), the Vollstreckungsgericht (enforcement court) allows a creditor to access money that a third party owes you, usually your bank balance or your wages. The order goes to the bank or the employer and to you. It requires an enforceable title (Titel), for example a Vollstreckungsbescheid or a court judgment.

With a Kontopfändung (seizure of a bank account), a basic monthly allowance (Grundfreibetrag) stays protected on a Pfändungsschutzkonto (P-Konto, account protected from seizure). According to the Verbraucherzentrale it is currently 1,590 euros per month; the amount is adjusted regularly on 1 July. If you have maintenance obligations (Unterhaltspflichten) or receive Kindergeld (child benefit), the allowance can be increased with a certificate (Bescheinigung).

If you do not have a P-Konto yet, you can have your current account converted. The bank must do this within four business days. If the conversion happens within one month after the order was delivered to the bank, the protection also covers the balance that has already been seized.

With a Lohnpfändung (seizure of wages), your employer calculates the part that can be seized according to the legal limits (Pfändungsgrenzen). You continue to receive the rest.

What to do now

  1. 1Read who is seizing, for which claim, and with whom (bank or employer).
  2. 2Immediately ask your bank in writing to run your current account as a P-Konto. Write in German if you can.
  3. 3If you have maintenance obligations or receive Kindergeld, get a P-Konto certificate (P-Konto-Bescheinigung), for example from the Familienkasse, your employer or a recognised debt advice service, and give it to the bank.
  4. 4Contact a free debt advice service (Schuldnerberatung).
  5. 5Talk to the creditor about paying in instalments if the claim is justified.

How you can reply

Set up a P-Konto

The conversion costs nothing extra, and the bank may not make it depend on you paying off an overdraft. Each person may have only one P-Konto.

Apply for a higher allowance

If the certificate is not enough or the bank does not accept it, you can apply to the Vollstreckungsgericht for a higher allowance. If an authority is seizing, you apply to that authority. Applications must be written in German; the templates (Vorlagen) on this site are in German.

File an Erinnerung (complaint about the enforcement)

If the seizure is formally wrong, for example because amounts were seized that are protected from seizure, you can file an Erinnerung with the Vollstreckungsgericht.

Common questions

Can I still pay rent and electricity after the seizure?

Yes, within the protected allowance. You can use the amount on the P-Konto until the end of the month. What you do not use in one month stays protected for the following three months.

Do I have to reply to the order?

A reply to the court is not expected. What matters is that you protect your account and find out whether and how you can pay the claim.

Where can I find free debt advice?

Verbraucherzentralen (consumer advice centres), welfare organisations (Wohlfahrtsverbände) and local councils (Kommunen) offer recognised debt advice. These services may also issue P-Konto certificates.

Sources (German law and official pages)

  1. § 829 Pfändung einer Geldforderung (ZPO)
  2. § 850c Pfändungsgrenzen für Arbeitseinkommen (ZPO)
  3. § 850k Einrichtung und Beendigung des Pfändungsschutzkontos (ZPO)
  4. § 899 Pfändungsfreier Betrag; Übertragung (ZPO)
  5. § 900 Moratorium bei Überweisung an den Gläubiger (ZPO)
  6. § 903 Nachweise über Erhöhungsbeträge (ZPO)
  7. § 766 Erinnerung gegen Art und Weise der Zwangsvollstreckung (ZPO)
  8. Verbraucherzentrale: Das P-Konto als Schutz vor Kontopfändung

Research as of: 10 November 2026