Part 2

Attachment

Attachment

Presumption of ownership
13
1
An officer may, when executing an attachment, proceed on the assumption that the debtor owns, solely or in common with a third party, any article which is in the possession of the debtor.
2
The officer shall, before attaching any article, make enquiries of any person who is present at the place at which the article is situated as to the ownership of the article (and in particular shall enquire as to whether there is any person who owns the article in common with the debtor).
3
The officer may not proceed on the assumption mentioned in subsection (1) above where the officer knows or ought to know that the contrary is the case.
4
The officer is not precluded from relying on that assumption by reason only of one or both of the following circumstances—
a
that the article belongs to a class which is commonly held under a hire, hire-purchase or conditional sale agreement or on some other limited title of possession;
b
that an assertion has been made that the article is not owned by the debtor.