Arrestment, in the Scots law, is the legal process or diligence, as it is called, by means of which a debtor is prohibited from making payment or delivery to his creditor until another debt or claim due to the person making use of the arrestment by such creditor is secured or paid. Thus, if A owes £100 to B, but B, again, is indebted to C, arrestment may be used by C in the hands of A; the effect of which is to prevent A paying to B until C's claim has been satisfied. A, the party in whose hands the arrestment is laid, is called the arrestee; C, the user of the arrestment, is called the arrester; and B, the arrester's debtor, is called the common debtor. The arrestment, however, has not the effect of transferring the debt or subject arrested. For that purpose, a particular form of action, called an action of furthcoming, is necessary, decree in which operates as a complete transfer to the arrester. Arrestment in security is also used on the dependence of an action, so as to secure the debt which the pursuer expects to establish by decree. Arrestments are frequently recalled by the court as oppressive, especially where a limited security is given. Arrestment in the hands of a man's banker is practically tying up his means. The corresponding diligence against land is called Adjudication for Debt, or, if in security, Inhibition.
The corresponding English term is Attachment of Debts (q.v.).