How to Know If Your Wages Are Being Garnished

The fastest way to know if your wages are being garnished is to look at your most recent pay stub for an unfamiliar deduction code and a drop in take-home pay you can’t explain by taxes or benefits. Federal law caps most consumer-debt garnishments at 25% of your disposable earnings, so the hit is large enough to notice immediately.¹ Beyond the pay stub, garnishments also announce themselves through court paperwork in your mailbox and, often, a conversation with someone in payroll or HR.

Read Your Pay Stub First

Your earnings statement is where a garnishment almost always shows up first. Payroll systems use short labels in the deductions column, and garnishment codes look different from ordinary withholdings. Watch for abbreviations like “Garn,” “WRIT,” “Wage WH,” or “Court Ord.” Any of these means a legal order is directing your employer to send part of your pay to a creditor.

If a new line item appears that you don’t recognize, compare your gross pay to your net pay. When the gap is wider than taxes and your usual benefits would explain, and nothing else changed (no new insurance election, no shift in hours), that unexplained difference is likely a garnishment. Check the year-to-date total for the unfamiliar code. It tells you how long the withholding has been running and how much has been taken.

In many states, employers can also deduct a small administrative fee for processing the garnishment, which appears as its own line. So your take-home may drop by slightly more than the garnishment itself.

Check the Amount Against What the Law Allows

Knowing what a garnishment should look like helps you confirm what you’re seeing. The percentage doesn’t apply to your full paycheck. It applies to your “disposable earnings,” meaning what’s left after your employer subtracts everything required by law: federal and state income taxes, Social Security, and Medicare.² Voluntary deductions like 401(k) contributions or health premiums stay in for this calculation, so the garnishable base is usually higher than your net deposit.

For ordinary consumer debts (credit cards, medical bills, personal loans), the maximum is the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings, or the amount by which your weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which puts the threshold at $217.50 per week.¹ If your weekly disposable earnings fall below $217.50, no consumer garnishment is allowed at all. Several states set even lower limits, and a handful bar wage garnishment for consumer debt entirely. Your state’s rule applies whenever it’s more protective.

If the amount coming out of your check looks larger than these caps allow, that’s a separate problem worth addressing (covered below).

Look for Court Notices You Should Have Received

For a consumer debt, money doesn’t leave your paycheck without a paper trail first. A creditor has to file a lawsuit, win a judgment (or get a default judgment if you didn’t respond), and then obtain a writ of garnishment ordering your employer to withhold. You should have received copies through certified mail or a process server. The writ typically states the total judgment amount, including the original debt, accrued interest, and court costs, along with instructions on how to object.³

The catch: if you moved, didn’t update your address with the court, or missed the original lawsuit, garnishment can start without your ever seeing a piece of paper. If your pay stub shows a garnishment and you have no notices, do this:

Search your local court’s online case lookup by your name.
Contact the clerk of the court that issued the order (your employer or payroll can tell you which court that is) and request copies of the judgment and writ.
If the case is in a county where you no longer live, check the court records there too.

Ask Your Employer or HR

Once an employer receives a garnishment order, they have no discretion. They must comply, or they become liable for the debt themselves. Most notify the affected employee promptly, though no federal law sets a specific timeframe. That notification may come as a memo from HR, an email from the payroll manager, or a request to meet with a supervisor. If your payroll department asks you to confirm personal details, hands you a copy of a court order, or mentions “answering interrogatories” from a court, a garnishment is being processed.

You can also just ask. Payroll can usually tell you what the deduction is, who the creditor is, and which court issued the order.

Garnishments That Don’t Start in Court

Some garnishments come from federal agencies through an administrative process, with no court judgment involved. The notices arrive differently, so it helps to know what to expect.

IRS Tax Levies

The IRS uses Form 668-W to tell your employer to withhold wages for unpaid federal taxes.⁴ The 25% rule doesn’t apply. Instead, an exempt amount is calculated from your filing status and dependents using tables in IRS Publication 1494; everything above that goes to the IRS.⁵ Before issuing the levy, the IRS sends a series of notices to your last known address, including a Final Notice of Intent to Levy at least 30 days before withholding begins.

Federal Student Loans

The Department of Education resumed administrative wage garnishment for defaulted federal student loans in early 2026, after a multi-year pause. The cap is the lesser of 15% of disposable pay or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed $217.50.⁶ You should get a notice at least 30 days before it starts.

Child Support and Alimony

Support orders carry the highest limits in federal law: up to 50% of disposable earnings if you’re supporting another spouse or child, and up to 60% if you aren’t. Both rise by five points (to 55% and 65%) if you’re more than 12 weeks behind.⁶ These are usually ordered through state child support enforcement agencies and appear as their own line on your pay stub.

Social Security Benefits

If your income is Social Security rather than wages, some collection is still possible. SSA can withhold benefits for child support, alimony, and restitution. The IRS can levy up to 15% of each payment for overdue federal taxes, and Treasury can offset benefits for other delinquent federal debts.⁷ Ordinary credit card and medical creditors generally cannot touch Social Security income.

You Cannot Be Fired Over a Single Garnishment

One of the first fears people have when they discover a garnishment is losing their job. Federal law addresses this directly: an employer cannot fire you because your earnings have been garnished for any single debt. An employer who does faces a fine of up to $1,000, up to a year in jail, or both.⁸ The protection covers only the first indebtedness. If a second, separate creditor garnishes your wages, the federal shield no longer applies. Some states extend the protection further.

What to Do Once You’ve Confirmed It

Confirming a garnishment doesn’t mean you’re stuck. You can challenge it if the debt isn’t yours, the amount is wrong, the statute of limitations has expired, you were never properly served with the underlying lawsuit, or the garnishment is taking more than the law allows.

The standard mechanism is filing a “claim of exemption” with the court that issued the writ. You complete a court form, have it notarized where required, file it with the clerk, and send copies to the creditor and to your employer (the “garnishee”). Deadlines are tight and vary by state, but many require filing within 20 to 30 days of receiving the garnishment notice. Miss it and you may waive your right to contest for that pay period.

For federal garnishments under 28 U.S.C. § 3205, you have 20 days after receiving the garnishee’s answer to file a written objection and request a hearing.³ For SSA administrative garnishments, you get 60 days from the date of the notice to pay, request a review, or enter a repayment agreement before the order reaches your employer.⁹

Financial hardship alone won’t void a valid judgment, but it can support a request to reduce the amount. If multiple garnishments have cut your take-home pay to the bone, a consumer law attorney or legal aid office is the right next call. Filing for bankruptcy triggers an automatic stay that halts most garnishments immediately, though the full consequences deserve careful thought before you take that step.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1672 – Definitions
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 3205 – Garnishment
4
Internal Revenue Service. What if I Get a Levy Against One of My Employees, Vendors, Customers, or Other Third Parties
5
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 1494 – Tables for Figuring Amount Exempt From Levy
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30 – Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act CCPA
7
Social Security Administration. Can My Social Security Benefits Be Garnished or Levied
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1674 – Restriction on Discharge From Employment by Reason of Garnishment
9
eCFR. 20 CFR 422.405 – What Notice Will We Send You About Administrative Wage Garnishment