If you do not make payments on your debt as they become due, you will likely experience the stress of receiving collection calls and letters from your creditor or a collection agency. However, ignoring a creditor's collection efforts can make your situation worse. Failing to bring your account current or establish a repayment plan with your creditor can force the creditor to take more drastic action, which may include taking a portion of your work check.
Legal Authorization
To take a portion of your work check for the payment of most debts -- except child support, taxes and alimony -- a creditor must first obtain a legal judgment against you for the debt by filing a lawsuit in a county or district civil court. When a creditor files a lawsuit, you will have an opportunity to defend yourself by proving that you have already satisfied the debt, if you have. If the court does not accept your defense, it will award the creditor a judgment. In most states, this allows the creditor to seek authorization to execute a garnishment.
Execution of Garnishment
After obtaining a civil judgment against you for the debt, the creditor may petition the court that awarded the judgment for a writ of garnishment. This permits the creditor to contact your employer and demand that part of your earnings be withheld from each paycheck to apply to your judgment debt. The employer must then determine the allowable garnishment amount and send the money from each paycheck to the court, which then forwards the funds to the creditor. The garnishment process continues until you have satisfied the debt or your state's judgment statute of limitations expires.
Maximum Garnishment
A judgment creditor cannot use a writ of garnishment to take your entire paycheck for payment of a private debt. Federal law prohibits wage garnishment if you earn less than 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage each week. If you earn more than this amount, the creditor may take earnings above this threshold or 25 percent of your earnings after taxes, whichever is less. However, federal law permits creditors to take a larger portion of your earnings for unpaid state or federal taxes, bankruptcy payments or child support. If you support a child or spouse who is not entitled to the support for which the garnishment is issued, up to 50 percent of your disposable earnings may be garnished. If you do not support such a spouse or child, up to 60 percent of your disposable income may be subject to garnishment.
State Limitations
As of 2011, four states -- Texas, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and North Carolina -- do not permit wage garnishment for private debts. Other states place restrictions on wage garnishment that are more stringent than the federal limitations. For example, Delaware allows a private creditor to take only up to 15 percent of each work check, and Missouri limits garnishment to 10 percent of earnings for a head of household.
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