Does Mississippi Allow a Spouse's Wages to Be Garnished?

If you are a Mississippi resident who has fallen behind on a debt payment, and your creditor believes that you will not voluntarily bring your account current, the creditor may choose to file a lawsuit against you for the debt. If this happens, the creditor may garnish a portion of your earnings to satisfy the debt. You might wonder if the creditor can also garnish your spouse's wages. In Mississippi, whether your spouse's income can be garnished depends on who owns the debt.

Community Property

Unlike states, such as Arizona, Louisiana and Texas, Mississippi is not a community property state. This means that in Mississippi, spouses do not automatically own each other's assets, and are not automatically responsible for each other's debts. If you solely owe a debt that is subject to garnishment proceedings under a legal judgment, your spouse cannot be held legally liable for the repayment of the debt. For this reason, a judgment creditor has no authority to attach a non-debtor spouse's wages.

Joint Accounts

Although a creditor cannot garnish your spouse's wages for a judgment debt under your name, Mississippi does permit wage garnishment if both you and your spouse are listed as debtors. For example, if you default on an installment loan held jointly by you and your spouse, the creditor may obtain a judgment against both debtors. This allows the creditor to attach your wages and your spouse's wages at the same time.

Limitations

Mississippi follows federal wage garnishment laws, which restrict wage garnishment to 25 percent of your disposable earnings. Disposable earnings refers to income after taxes -- voluntary deductions, such as company-sponsored life or health insurance, do not reduce your earnings for the purpose of determining wage garnishment limits. Federal law also exempts earnings less than 30 times the federal minimum wage per week. If a creditor garnishes both spouses' wages for a jointly held debt, these limitations apply separately to each spouse.

Length of Garnishment

Mississippi law limits the time a creditor can garnish your income for an individually held debt, or a spouse's wages in a jointly held debt. If the debt is not satisfied within seven years after the creditor obtains a judgment, it must cease garnishment unless it applies for a renewal through the Mississippi court. A renewal permits the creditor to continue wage garnishment for an additional seven years, or until the debt is satisfied.