Individuals serving in the United States military receive monetary payment in exchange for performing their duties. Additionally, people who have retired from military service also receive veterans' pension payments from the federal government. In some cases, federal law allows entities to "garnish," or withhold, a certain portion of a current or retired service member's income to pay her debts.
Types of Debts Eligible for Garnishment
A number of debt types exist for which a person's military wages or retirement benefits are subject to garnishment. Specifically, the law allows public agencies to garnish an individual's military wages or retirement benefits to pay his delinquent child support or alimony debts. Additionally, the law also provides private corporations with the option to garnish a person's military wages to pay his commercial delinquent debts and unpaid federal taxes. However, creditors may not garnish a person's military retirement benefits to pay ordinary debts, including tax debt.
Process
Public agencies or private creditors cannot just take money from military members' paychecks; they must go through the appropriate legal channels and obtain garnishment orders. To gain the ability to garnish a person's military wages or retirement benefits, a public agency or business entity must obtain a civil judgment authorizing wage garnishment. To do this, a creditor must successfully sue the veteran or service member in a civil court.
Amounts - Normal Debts
Federal laws limit the amount of military members' pay that private or public creditors may garnish. Specifically, as of March 2011, private businesses and public agencies may garnish up to 25 percent of a military service member's paycheck, or the amount above which the person's earnings exceed those from 30 times the federal minimum wage, whichever is less, according to Military.com.
Amounts - Child Support or Alimony
For child support or alimony, as of March 2011, public agencies may take up to 50 percent of military wages or retirement pay if the individual supports a second family and 60 percent if she does not. However, if the person is more than 12 weeks late on her child support or alimony payments, entities may take up to 55 percent if the individual supports a second family, and up to 65 percent if she does not.
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