Writs of attachment from courts within the Superior and District Court Departments are issued on approved forms which carry the signature or facsimile signature of the clerk of the court and the seal of the court. Attachments from courts within the Probate and Family Court Department are issued either on probate court forms which carry the signature of the judge or the seal of the court, or on a form which carries the name of the judge, the amount approved, and the signature or facsimile signature of the register of probate. Writs of attachments also may be accepted from this court or courts in other departments of the Trial Court if they carry the signature of the judge or the signature or the facsimile signature of the clerk of the court, and the seal of the court.
A writ of attachment may be registered only by a deputy sheriff or, if authorized by the issuing court, a special officer (such authority should be made part of, and registered with, the attachment). The document will be a copy of the original as issued by the court. It must be attested as a true copy by the deputy sheriff/special officer, and the seal of the court must appear on the copy. Alternatively, the deputy sheriff/special officer may write “seal” in the place where the seal normally appears. The deputy sheriff’s/special officer’s return must refer to the current outstanding certificate of title number of the land being attached and the return must bear the officer’s signature.
The deputy sheriff/special officer may only attach the interest and no more than the interest authorized by the court issuing the attachment. The names of the persons or entities noted on the face of the attachment must match the name or names on record as one or more of the owners shown on the current certificate. If the person or entity named on the attachment is not one of the a named owners in the certificate, it must be clear from the certificate and the memorandum of encumbrances that the party named in the attachment has an interest in the property described in the certificate which is susceptible to an attachment, i.e. the party is a named mortgagee on the certificate, a named beneficiary of a trust, a named lessee, etc. Or, the attachment must state on its face that it is against the interest of “A” standing in the name of “B”, where “B” is the holder of an ownership or other interest shown by the certificate. If the return is faulty in regard to any of the above it must be corrected before the attachment can be received for registration.
An attachment on which no execution has been registered will expire six years from the date of registration and may be dropped from the certificate, including upon request of an interested party, unless a document bringing the attachment forward has been registered within that period (See G.L. c. 223, §114A). An attachment may be brought forward by the plaintiff’s attorney or by the sheriff.
An attachment may be discharged by a signed and acknowledged release from the plaintiff or by the plaintiff’s executor, administrator or attorney of record (the plaintiff’s attorney need not be the same one named on the attachment but must be a current attorney of record as established from current court pleadings, docket, or court clerk’s certificate). An attachment also may be released by a certificate from the clerk of court in which the action was pending that the attachment has been dissolved or that the action has finally been determined in favor of the Defendant.
For additional provisions concerning attachments, please see Guideline 20, Executions.