Garnish Someone's Wages

How to garnish a debtor's wages

Bankruptcy: If a person or a business declares bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the federal Bankruptcy Code and lists you as a creditor, your right to recover a court judgment is cut off. Exceptions to this general rule are if your judgment was based on a secured loan and if you obtained a judgment because you or your property were injured by the willful and malicious behavior of the defendant. For more information, see

Garnish the wages of a person who owes you money (debtor)

So someone owes you money and you need to collect? You may be a landlord, who has a tenent who didn't pay their rent or you may have made a personal loan to a friend, family member or coworker. The first thing you need to do to garnish someone's wages, is to file a lawsuit and then win that lawsuit. Once you win the lawsuit the court will issue a judgment for you to collect a certain amount.

How to enforce a court judgment to garnish wages

If you sue someone and win a lawsuit, you still have the burden of collecting the money. The court will issue a judgment for you to collect a certain amount, but the court itself, will not get the money for you. If your judgment is against an entity (person or business) that is solvent, collecting your money is easier. If you judgment is however against an entity that is protected under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, collecting you money may be futile. Let's talk about a judgment against a solvent entity.

You can garnish up to 25% of the debtor's disposable. Note that debtors below the poverty line are exempt from most wage garnishments. Most people are embarrassed about having their wages garnished, since this has to be done through their place of work. Nobody wants their boss to know they are a deadbeat. The threat of a wage garnishment is usually enough for a person to pay off their debt. Of course, they are people will run and file bankruptcy or quit their current job. You will not be able to collect a dime, if the person files for bankruptcy or doesn't have a job. There is nothing to garnish.

Federal laws about wage garnishment

There are limits to garnishing someone's wages. Use the wage garnishment calculator

Child support or spousal support wage garnishment

If you have a court judgment for child support or spousal support, you can garnish the wages of the debtor. Under usual circumstances, a wage earner must keep 30 times the current minimum wage ($7.25) before any wages can be garnished. This means that the first $217.50 of their wage is exempt from garnishment. In cases of child support or spousal support wage garnishment, you can garnish between 50% to 65%.