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Attachment of Assets - Looseleaf
Attachment of Assets - Electronic
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Guatemala
Attachment of Assets
1. What is the general nature and effect of judicial measures available for plaintiffs to obtain provisional relief affecting property of debtors to obtain security for judgments to be obtained (“attachments”)? Freezing property in place? Placing it in the custody of a third party, such as a court official, sheriff or Marshall?
Attachments are considered a procedural guarantee measure to secure the results of the procedures or judgments. Courts are empowered to decree any adequate measure to prevent transfer of debtor’s property to third parties. The freezing of property in place or placing it in the custody of a third party such as a court official, a bank or a person designated by the creditor, is perfectly feasible.
2. What is the form of the attachment? Injunction? Other kind of judicial order? Specify.
Attachments may be of different forms: (i.) embargo freezing the property in place; (ii.) sequestration of property and placing it in the custody of a third party; (iii.) receivership over mercantile enterprise or farm; (iv.) annotation at the Property Registry, to prevent property transfer to third parties and/or to secure creditor’s rights against third party claims. Notwithstanding, courts have ample powers to grant any other measure they consider adequate to secure creditors rights.
3. What is the jurisdictional basis for an attachment? Is the presence of the debtor’s property a sufficient basis for an attachment to be obtained, assuming other requirements are satisfied? To what extent may attachments be used as a basis for obtaining personal jurisdiction over a debtor? To what extent are attachments or similar orders intended to have extraterritorial effect?
An attachment may be ordered by any court with venue. The presence of debtor’s property is a sufficient basis for an attachment to be obtained, assuming that other requirements are satisfied.
Luis Beltranena Valladares and Francisco Chávez Bosque, BELTRANENA, DE LA CERDA & CHAVEZ
