To fill out garnishment paperwork, pull the correct form from the court that issued your judgment, enter the case caption and judgment details exactly as they appear on the original order, identify the garnishee by full legal name, calculate the balance owed within federal wage-garnishment limits, sign (and notarize if required), and file with the clerk along with the filing fee. The paperwork itself is not complicated, but small errors — an outdated form, a misnamed employer, an interest figure calculated from the wrong date — will get your request bounced or delayed.
Confirm You Need a Garnishment, Not an Execution
A writ of garnishment reaches assets a third party holds for the debtor: wages in an employer’s hands, funds in a bank account. A writ of execution reaches property the debtor holds directly, like a vehicle.1Legal Information Institute. Writ of Garnishment File the wrong type and the court will reject it.
Wage and bank garnishments also use different forms in most jurisdictions, even though both are “garnishments.” Wage garnishment creates an ongoing withholding obligation on each paycheck. Bank garnishment freezes and seizes funds in the account on a set date. Decide which asset you are going after before you download anything.
Get the Right Form for Your Court
Garnishment forms are jurisdiction-specific. The court’s website is the best starting point; most post downloadable forms organized by case type, with separate applications for wage and bank garnishment. If the forms aren’t online, ask the clerk’s office at the courthouse where your judgment was entered. Confirm you have the current version. Filing an outdated form is one of the fastest ways to get paperwork kicked back.
If your judgment is from a federal court, note that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 69 sends post-judgment enforcement to the law of the state where the court sits, so the forms and procedures may look like state practice.2U.S. Marshals Service. Writ of Garnishment Check both the district court’s site and the state’s rules.
Gather Your Information First
Assemble everything before you sit down with the form. Hunting for case numbers halfway through is how fields get left blank or filled in wrong.
- Judgment details: case number, court name, date of judgment, original judgment amount.
- Debtor information: full legal name and last known address. Some applications ask for the debtor’s Social Security number.
- Garnishee information: full legal name and address of the third party holding the assets. For wages, that’s the employer. For a bank account, the financial institution and ideally the branch where the account sits.
- Balance calculation: original judgment, post-judgment interest, and court-approved costs like prior filing fees, broken out separately.
The balance deserves care. Post-judgment interest accrues from the date of the judgment, not the date you file for garnishment. In federal court, the rate is tied to the weekly average one-year Treasury yield for the week before judgment was entered, compounded annually.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1961 – Interest State courts set their own rates, either statutory fixed or variable. Using the wrong rate is a common error.
Filling In the Form Section by Section
Work through the form methodically. Accuracy matters more than speed.
The caption at the top identifies the case. Enter the court’s name, case number, and the parties exactly as they appear on the original judgment. Small discrepancies — a middle initial on the judgment but missing on the garnishment form — cause problems.
The body asks for the judgment details: date entered, original amount, and your calculated total including interest and costs. Break these out separately rather than lumping them into one figure. Most forms have designated fields for principal, accrued interest, payments already received, and allowable costs. Courts want to see the math.
Enter the garnishee’s information precisely. For wages, use the employer’s legal business name, not a trade name or abbreviation. For a bank account, use the institution’s full legal name. An incorrectly identified garnishee has no legal obligation to comply, and you’ll have wasted your filing fee.
The application typically requires a signature and date at the bottom. Some jurisdictions also require notarization or a signature under penalty of perjury. Read the instructions printed on the form or its cover sheet.
Stay Within the Federal Garnishment Limits
This is where creditors get themselves into trouble. Requesting more than federal law allows won’t just get the garnishment reduced. It can get it challenged or thrown out.
Under the Consumer Credit Protection Act, the maximum garnishment for ordinary consumer debt is the lesser of two amounts: 25 percent of the debtor’s disposable earnings for the pay period, or the amount by which those earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour as of 2026).4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment “Disposable earnings” means what’s left after legally required deductions: federal and state income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and state unemployment insurance. Voluntary deductions like retirement contributions, union dues, and health insurance premiums don’t reduce the base.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1672 – Definitions
In practice, if a debtor’s weekly disposable earnings are $217.50 or less (30 × $7.25), nothing can be garnished. Between $217.50 and $290, only the amount above $217.50 is reachable. Above $290, the 25 percent cap produces the smaller number and controls.
Different rules apply to support orders and tax debts. For child support or alimony, garnishment can reach 50 percent of disposable earnings if the debtor is supporting another spouse or child, and 60 percent if not, with an additional 5 percent when payments are more than 12 weeks overdue.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment Federal and state tax debts are also exempt from the standard 25 percent cap. Some states impose lower limits than federal law, and the debtor gets whichever protection is greater. Check your state’s rule before entering a withholding amount on the form.
Know Which Income You Cannot Reach
Some federal benefits are entirely off-limits to creditor garnishment. When a garnishment order hits a bank account, the financial institution must review the two months of deposit history and automatically protect any funds traceable to:6eCFR. 31 CFR Part 212 – Garnishment of Accounts Containing Federal Benefit Payments
- Social Security and SSI benefits
- Veterans benefits
- Railroad retirement and unemployment insurance benefits
- Civil Service and Federal Employee Retirement System benefits
The bank must complete the review within two business days of receiving the order and cannot freeze the protected amount. The debtor doesn’t have to file anything for the protection to apply.6eCFR. 31 CFR Part 212 – Garnishment of Accounts Containing Federal Benefit Payments If the account you’re targeting receives any of these benefits by direct deposit, expect part or all of it to be shielded. A garnishment that hits only exempt funds wastes your filing fee.
Redact Personal Information Before Filing
Court filings are often public records. In federal court, Rule 5.2 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires that filings include only the last four digits of any Social Security number, taxpayer identification number, or financial account number.7Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 5.2 – Privacy Protection For Filings Made with the Court Most state courts have adopted similar rules. Unredacted filings can trigger sanctions and expose the debtor to identity theft, so if the application asks for a full SSN internally, redact it on any public-facing copy.
File, Serve, and Prove Service
File the completed forms with the clerk’s office of the court that issued the original judgment. Depending on local rules, you may be able to file in person, by mail, or through an electronic filing system. A filing fee is required, and the clerk won’t process the paperwork without payment. The fee amount varies by jurisdiction, so confirm it before you file.
After the court issues the garnishment order, you serve it on the garnishee and the debtor. Common service methods are certified mail with return receipt requested and delivery by a professional process server. Some jurisdictions allow service by the sheriff’s office or a specially appointed person. In federal cases, the U.S. Marshal may serve the writ.2U.S. Marshals Service. Writ of Garnishment
Proof of service is non-negotiable. You need a signed return receipt, a process server’s affidavit, or whatever documentation your jurisdiction requires showing each party actually received the papers. File that proof with the court promptly. Without it, the garnishment is not procedurally complete and the court won’t enforce it.
Most jurisdictions also impose a deadline for serving the writ after the court issues it. Timeframes vary; some states give 30 days, others more or less. Miss the window and the writ expires, meaning a new request and another filing fee. Check the deadline the moment you receive the issued writ.
Closing the Garnishment When the Debt Is Paid
Once the garnished funds satisfy the judgment in full, including accrued interest and costs, stop the garnishment and tell the court. For continuing wage garnishment, that means sending a release to the employer directing them to stop withholding. Over-collection creates its own legal problems.
File a satisfaction of judgment with the court to formally close the case. If the judgment created a lien on real property, the debtor may ask that the satisfaction be recorded with the local recorder of deeds to clear title. Many jurisdictions penalize creditors who unreasonably delay filing a satisfaction after receiving full payment, so don’t sit on it.