Wage garnishment limits: how much of a paycheck can be taken

Garnishment is a court order that makes your employer, or your bank, send part of your money to a creditor. For most private debts, such as a credit card or medical bill, a creditor has to sue you and win a judgment first.

The federal cap

For an ordinary debt, federal law limits the garnishment to the lesser of:

• 25 percent of your disposable earnings for the week, or
• the amount by which your disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage (30 x $7.25 = $217.50 a week).

Disposable earnings are what is left after deductions the law requires, such as taxes and Social Security, not after voluntary ones like retirement contributions.

Below $217.50 a week, nothing can be garnished for an ordinary debt. Between $217.50 and $290, only the amount above $217.50 can be. Above $290, the 25 percent limit is the one that applies.

Debts with different limits

Child support and alimony, federal and state taxes, federal student loans, and bankruptcy court orders follow other rules, and some allow larger amounts. Many states protect more of your pay than the federal floor; where state law protects more, it applies.

Federal benefits in your bank account

If Social Security, SSI, VA or certain other federal benefits are deposited directly into your account, your bank must look back two months when it gets a garnishment order and protect two months' worth of those deposits automatically. If you deposit a benefits check yourself, the bank does not have to do that review, and you may have to go to court to prove the money is protected. Direct deposit is the simple fix.

If a garnishment starts

You should receive papers about it, and most states let you claim exemptions within a short deadline. If you never knew about a lawsuit, the judgment may have been entered by default; read what to do if you are sued and contact a legal aid office quickly.