A “Legal Order LTS” entry on a Bank of America account is the bank’s record of processing a legal order — most often a garnishment, levy, or lien — that directs it to freeze funds in your account or turn them over to a creditor or government agency. The entry usually appears alongside a $125 legal process fee, and it means someone has obtained legal authority to reach your money and the bank is required to comply.
Who Sent the Order
The bank does not initiate this on its own. It is responding to a directive from a court or a government agency. The usual sources are:
- A creditor who won a court judgment against you and obtained a bank garnishment.
- The IRS or a state tax agency issuing a levy, which does not require a prior court order.
- A court enforcing unpaid child support or alimony.
- A creditor with a recorded lien reaching your deposits through a court order.
Bank of America’s role is administrative. It authenticates the order, locates your account, freezes or remits the money, and charges its fee. The bank cannot decide whether the underlying debt is valid and cannot negotiate the order on your behalf.
The $125 Fee
Bank of America charges $125 each time it processes a legal order to freeze, attach, or withhold funds. The fee applies per order, so multiple orders mean multiple charges. Some states cap the fee at a different amount by law, but $125 is the bank’s standard rate. It comes out of your account on top of whatever is frozen or turned over. The bank is not allowed to charge this fee against protected federal benefit payments.
What Happens To Your Account
Once funds are frozen, you cannot withdraw them, transfer them, or spend them on debit card purchases. Anything set to auto-pay against the account, including rent, utilities, or loan payments, will fail if it lands on frozen money. That can trigger overdraft fees from the bank, returned-payment fees from billers, and late marks on your credit. The chain reaction is often more painful than the freeze itself.
The frozen money does not leave your account right away. In most states, it sits on hold while the court process runs. The bank answers the garnishment (often within about 20 days, though this varies by jurisdiction), and there is typically a window during which you can claim exemptions or contest the order. If you do nothing, the funds are eventually released to the creditor. Start to finish, the process can take a few weeks to several months.
Joint Accounts
If the account is joint and only one holder owes the debt, the whole account is still likely to be frozen. Banks do not sort out which dollars belong to whom. A non-debtor co-owner generally has to prove which funds are theirs, using pay stubs, deposit records, and statements showing the source of each deposit. In some states, married couples who hold an account as tenants by the entirety have added protection against a creditor of just one spouse, but only where state law recognizes that form of ownership for bank accounts.
Money the Bank Cannot Freeze
Federal rules require Bank of America to review your account before freezing anything. When a garnishment arrives, the bank looks back two months for federal benefit deposits. If it finds any, it calculates a “protected amount” equal to the lesser of the total benefits deposited during that two-month window or your current balance, and keeps that amount accessible to you. The bank cannot charge its $125 fee against protected funds either.
Protected payments include Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, veterans’ benefits, federal employee retirement benefits, civil service retirement, and federal railroad retirement. The protection is automatic as long as the benefits were direct-deposited. You do not have to file anything to get it.
The automatic protection has limits. Any balance above two months of benefit deposits can still be frozen, even if you believe it is also exempt; to free that excess, you have to file a claim of exemption with the court. And the automatic protection does not apply when the garnishment is for child support, federal taxes, or certain other government debts. Social Security is broadly shielded from ordinary creditors, but the government can still reach it for unpaid taxes, child support, and defaulted student loans.
How To Challenge the Order
Seeing this entry does not end the matter. You can challenge the garnishment or levy in court, and speed is the single most important factor. Most jurisdictions give you a narrow window, often 10 to 20 days, to file a claim of exemption or a motion to vacate. Miss it and you can lose the right to contest the order at all.
Common grounds include:
- The frozen funds are exempt under federal or state law, such as Social Security, disability payments, or wages below the garnishment threshold.
- The underlying judgment has already been paid or you are current on an agreed payment plan.
- You were never properly served with the original lawsuit or the garnishment.
- The order names the wrong person or the wrong account.
- The judgment has expired under your state’s rules and was not renewed.
You typically file a motion to quash or vacate with the court that issued the order, attach your documentation, and appear at a hearing where both sides present arguments. If you win, the bank releases the funds and removes the hold. You are not required to have an attorney, but garnishment law is procedural and deadline-driven, and exemptions vary significantly by state. A lawyer familiar with your jurisdiction can often identify protections you would not find on your own.
Do Not Move the Money
If you learn a garnishment is coming and try to withdraw your funds, close the account, or move money to someone else before the bank executes the order, you are asking for serious trouble. Courts treat this as an attempt to defraud creditors. Consequences can include contempt charges, additional fines, and in extreme cases jail time. The creditor can also ask the court to reverse the transfers and add the costs of chasing the money to what you owe.
What To Do Right Now
Read the notice from the bank carefully and note every deadline. Get a copy of the actual court order, either from the notice or from the court clerk. You need to know the amount claimed, the type of order, and which court has jurisdiction.
If any of the frozen money came from exempt sources — Social Security, veterans’ benefits, wages below the garnishment threshold — pull your proof together right away. Bank statements showing direct deposits, benefit award letters, and pay stubs are what you will need. File the exemption claim with the court before the deadline. Exempt funds are often lost simply because no one filed in time.
Contact any billers with automatic payments tied to the account. A phone call in the first day or two can sometimes head off late fees or service shutoffs. If you have another account that is not affected, redirect essential payments there. And talk to an attorney sooner rather than later, especially if the amount is large, you believe the debt is not yours, or you were never properly served with the original lawsuit. The earlier you get advice, the more options you tend to have.