If one of your creditors gets a money judgment against—meaning, the creditor sued you for nonpayment of a debt and won—it can garnish your wages. With a wage garnishment, sometimes called a "wage attachment," your employer holds back some of your wages and gives them directly to the creditor. Some creditors, like the IRS, get special treatment and can garnish your wages without a court judgment.
Federal and state laws limit how much can be garnished. And, in some cases, you might be able to raise a valid objection to a wage garnishment order.
Below you'll find articles on wage garnishment, how it works, and how and for what reasons you can raise an objection. You can also find state-specific wage garnishment laws.
Choose an article below to learn the wage garnishment laws for that state.
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
D.C.
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
Choose an article below to learn the wage garnishment laws for that state.
You may be able to protect some or all of your wages from garnishment with a state exemption.
Find out which creditors are allowed to get money directly from your paycheck -- called wage garnishment.
Learn about the similarities and differences between income withholding orders and wage garnishment.
Learn the basic procedures for challenging a wage garnishment.
If you provide economic support for your household, you may be able to protect more of your wages from garnishment than non-heads of household.
If a creditor is garnishing your wages, you may be able to stop the garnishment and even get some of your garnished wages back by filing bankruptcy.
Your wages can be garnished if you owe child support, alimony, student loans, or back taxes, or if a court judgment has been entered against you.
Find out if you can reduce or eliminate a wage garnishment if it leaves you unable to pay for food for you and your family.
A credit card companies can garnish your wages if it gets a judgment against you. Learn how to avoid this.
If you still owe money after the foreclosure of your home, can the lender garnish your wages to get the rest?
Wage garnishments and bank levies are different -- learn about them and which creditors are more likely to use each type of collection action.
If you owe taxes to the IRS, it can garnish your wages to collect. But there are payment options for you to avoid garnishment.
Many states protect your private disability income from creditors and federal law offers some protection too.
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At Nolo, we prioritize quality and transparency because we know how important reliable legal information is to our readers. Our information is meticulously researched, regularly updated, and written in plain English by our experienced writers and editors. Learn more about our editorial standards.