§ 1238 Reference to ascertain priority of attachments.

When more than one person tries to claim the same property or the same garnishee through an attachment, the court has a way to sort out who gets paid first. If several attachments are placed on the same property, or if several plaintiffs name the same garnishee, any of those plaintiffs can ask the court to step in and figure out the order of priority.

The court can handle this in one of two ways. It can send the matter to a referee, who will look into the details and report back on how much each attachment is worth and which one has priority over the others. Or the court can skip that step and decide the amounts and priorities itself, without bringing in a referee.

In simple terms, this rule gives the court a tool to prevent confusion when multiple people are fighting over the same property or funds. It makes sure there is a clear process for deciding who gets paid first when several claims overlap.