What type of wages can be garnished

Not every creditor can garnish your wages, and there are limits on how much can be taken from your paycheck. For the most part, only judgment creditors can garnish your wages. But there are a few exceptions.

Regular creditors cannot garnish your wages without first suing you in court and obtaining a money judgment. That means that if you owe money to a credit card company, doctor, dentist, furniture company, or the like, you don't have to worry about garnishment unless those creditors sue you in court. Although these agencies don't have to get a judgment against you, they must provide some type of notice along with time for your to object, before garnishing your wages.

The type of notice and procedures for objecting varies depending on the agency involved. The judgment creditor sends the garnishment order to your employer. Your employer will then withhold a portion of your wages each pay period and send that money directly to your creditor.

The garnishment will end when you have paid the entire judgment or you reach a separate settlement on the debt with the creditor. This process works similarly for creditors on student loans, child support, and back taxes. Federal law limits the amount that can be garnished from your paycheck each week or month. Usually, income from the exempted sources remains protected even after it gets to your bank account.

This is to make sure that exempt monies are not improperly garnished. To protect your income from wage garnishments, you need to file an exemption claim with the court that issued the garnishment order. To stand a better chance of keeping some or all your wages, you should describe your exemption in your claim and provide other pertinent information like proof of having dependents.

The document is filed with the court clerk in the court where the garnishment was originally filed. Depending on the state laws, a hearing will be scheduled. But if they disagree, the garnishment proceeds as is stated in the original garnishment order. Some of the things to be on the lookout for is the pay period and when the garnishment starts.

Title III also limits the amount of earnings that may be garnished pursuant to court orders for child support or alimony. The wage garnishment law specifies that its limitations on the amount of earnings that may be garnished do not apply to certain bankruptcy court orders, or to debts due for federal or state taxes.

If a state wage garnishment law differs from Title III, the law resulting in the lower amount of earnings being garnished must be observed. The CCPA prohibits an employer from firing an employee whose earnings are subject to garnishment for any one debt, regardless of the number of levies made or proceedings brought to collect that one debt.

This publication is for general information and is not to be considered in the same light as official statements of position contained in the regulations. The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies. Definition of Earnings The CCPA defines earnings as compensation paid or payable for personal services , including wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, and periodic payments from a pension or retirement program.

If you lose the lawsuit and the court enters a money judgment against you, the person or entity that won the lawsuit can garnish your wages by providing a copy of the court order to the local sheriff or marshal.

That person will then send it to your employer. Your employer must then notify you of the garnishment, begin withholding part of your wages, send the garnished money to your creditor, and give you information on how you can protest the garnishment.

Federal law places limits on how much judgment creditors can take from your paycheck. Some states set a lower percentage limit for how much of your wages can be garnished. You may not be fired or otherwise retaliated against because your wages have been garnished to pay one debt.

Generally, though, once you have more garnishments, less protection is available. Under federal law, you're not protected from retaliation if more than one creditor has garnished your wages—or the same creditor has garnished your wages for two or more debts.

Some states offer more protection. If you want to protest a wage garnishment, you must file papers with the court to get a hearing date. See below for more information on how to object to a creditor's wage garnishment.

You can present evidence at the hearing that you need more of your paycheck to pay your expenses or that you qualify for an exemption. The judge can terminate the garnishment or leave it in place. Since , all new or modified child support orders include an automatic wage withholding order. If child support and alimony are combined into one family support payment, the wage withholding order applies to the whole amount owed; however, orders involving only alimony don't result in automatic wage withholding.

Once the court orders you to pay child support, the court or the child's other parent sends a copy of the order to your employer, who will withhold the ordered amount from your paycheck and send it to the other parent. If you're required to maintain health insurance coverage for your child, the payment for that will be deducted from your paycheck as well. More of your paycheck can be taken to pay child support. State law sometimes differs a bit. You may not be fired, disciplined, or otherwise retaliated against because your pay is subject to a wage withholding order to pay child support.

The U. But you can keep an amount that's equivalent to 30 times the current federal minimum wage per week. No lawsuit or court order is required for this type of garnishment; if you're in default, your wages can be garnished.