Enforcement
Garnishment: What You Need Before You File
Garnishments fail for boring reasons — the wrong legal entity name, an exempt income source, a closed account. Nearly all of it’s checkable in advance.
- Federal wage cap
- 25% of disposable earnings
- Or
- Earnings above 30× minimum wage
- Support orders
- Up to 50–65%
- Exempt entirely
- Social Security, VA, SSI
What the clerk will want
| For wages | For a bank account |
|---|---|
| Debtor full legal name | Debtor full legal name |
| Employer’s exact legal entity name | Bank’s exact legal entity name |
| Employer’s registered agent and address | The branch or registered agent for service |
| Judgment details and current balance | Judgment details and current balance |
| Case number and court | Case number and court |
“Exact legal entity name” is where most of these die. Serving “Acme Construction” when the employer is “Acme Construction Group of New England, LLC” produces a return saying no such entity. Get it from the Secretary of State, not from a pay stub.
Confirm the judgment is alive
Check it hasn’t expired and, if renewal was required, that it was renewed. An expired judgment can’t support a garnishment and the clerk may not catch it for you.
Calculate the current balance properly
Principal plus post-judgment interest at the statutory rate, less payments, plus recoverable costs. Use the judgment interest calculator and cite the statute.
An unsupportable number invites a challenge that delays everything.
Verify the employer or bank as a legal entity
Search the Secretary of State for the exact registered name and the registered agent for service of process. Serve the agent, not the branch manager.
National banks frequently designate a specific address for legal process that’s nowhere near the branch your debtor uses.
Check the income source is garnishable
Federal law protects a great deal outright:
- Social Security and SSI
- Veterans’ benefits
- Federal student aid
- Most federal pensions
And federal banking rules require a bank to protect two months of directly deposited federal benefits automatically when it receives a garnishment order.
Garnishing an account that receives only Social Security achieves nothing and can expose you to a claim.
Apply the wage cap correctly
Federal law caps ordinary wage garnishment at the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed thirty times the federal minimum wage.
Many states are more protective, and the more protective rule applies. Several states bar consumer wage garnishment almost entirely. Check the state before you file.
Support orders run to higher percentages and take priority over ordinary creditors.
Confirm the account is live before you spend the fee
A levy against a closed account costs you the filing fee and the service fee and returns nothing.
Work out where they bank now rather than where they banked when the debt arose. See how to find out where someone banks.
Know the timing rules
A bank levy is generally a snapshot — it captures what’s there when served, not future deposits. Timing relative to payday matters enormously.
A wage garnishment is continuing in most states, capturing a share of each pay period until satisfied.
The joint account problem
Levying a joint account will usually produce a claim of exemption from the co-owner, and in many states the non-debtor’s share is protected. Expect a hearing, and expect to have to show which deposits were the debtor’s.
Wrongful garnishment is a real liability. Levying protected benefits, garnishing beyond the statutory cap, or proceeding on a judgment that has been satisfied can expose you to damages and sanctions. The checks above take an afternoon; the consequences of skipping them last considerably longer.
The full enforcement guide
Judgment Recovery: The Complete Enforcement Guide
Wage garnishments and bank levies step by step, alongside property liens, vehicle seizures, business asset enforcement, unclaimed funds and state-by-state procedure. Written for plaintiffs, skip tracers, investigators, paralegals and attorneys.
See the book