What is garnishment?
Garnishment is a legal order that makes a third party, usually your employer or your bank, hand over part of your money to pay a debt or a support obligation. With wages, the employer takes it out of your paycheck. With a bank account, the bank freezes or turns over money in the account.
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Where you’ll see the word
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A pay stub
A line for the garnishment deduction, next to taxes and other withholdings.
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A notice from your employer
Tells you how much of each paycheck will be withheld and for what debt.
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A letter from your bank
Says the bank received an order and what it did with the money in the account.
Two kinds of garnishment
What garnishment means for you
For an ordinary debt, federal law caps what can come out of a paycheck. The U.S. Department of Labor says the weekly limit is the lesser of 25% of your disposable earnings or the amount by which they exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage. If your state's limit takes less, the state limit applies.
Money in the bank has its own protection. The CFPB says banks must protect certain federal benefits from being frozen or garnished when they're directly deposited into your account.
Questions about garnishment
Can a creditor garnish my wages without going to court?
The CFPB says most creditors can only garnish wages or benefits after a court issues a judgment saying you owe the debt and that the creditor can garnish to collect it.
What are disposable earnings?
The pay left after legally required deductions, such as taxes. The federal limit is figured on that amount, not your gross pay, the Department of Labor says.
Does the federal limit apply to child support or taxes?
The Department of Labor says the ordinary limits don't apply to garnishments for state or federal taxes or to certain bankruptcy court orders, and different limits apply to court orders for child support or alimony.
Help with garnishment and debt
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Credit counseling
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains how nonprofit credit counselors help with debt and where to find one.
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Legal aid
Nonprofit law offices give free civil legal help to people with low incomes. Our help directory lists the 120 offices the Legal Services Corporation funds.
Our pages that use it
- Debt collectors guide →How a collection case can lead to an order against your pay or your account.
Related terms
- LevyA legal seizure of money from a bank account to pay a judgment or tax debt.
- Debt ValidationThe information a debt collector has to give you about a debt, and the written dispute that makes it stop collecting until it verifies the debt.
- Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)The federal law that bars debt collectors from abusive, unfair and deceptive practices when they collect consumer debts.
- Deficiency JudgmentA court judgment for an unpaid mortgage balance left after a foreclosure sale.
Sources and method
This page uses none of our own data. The wage limits come from U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet 30 and the bank-account points from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, each opened on Oct 22, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Labor · Fact Sheet 30, Wage Garnishment, at dol.gov
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau · Can a debt collector take or garnish my wages or benefits? at consumerfinance.gov
- United States Code · Consumer Credit Protection Act garnishment restrictions, at law.cornell.edu
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau · Debt collection key terms, at consumerfinance.gov
We write with assistance from AI tools. Figures come from the data and sources named on this page.