How Can I Garnish Someone's Wages in the State of Texas?

Under Texas law, you can't garnish an individual's wages. The state makes exceptions for unpaid child support and student loan debts, but if you're suing someone over a credit card or medical bill, or a personal loan, you're out of luck. You do have two possible alternatives, however; you can garnish a bank account or other source of money, or go after earned wages through another state. Even then, circumstances may make it hard to collect.

Instructions

1

Calculate the elapsed time of the debt. The Texas statute of limitations for debts varies depending on the nature of the bill you're attempting to collect. Generally, you'll have to take legal action within four years after incurring the debt. If you secure a judgment, you'll have 10 years after the court decision to apply a garnishment.

2

Sue your debtor in Texas court. The first step in collecting from a recalcitrant debtor is a judgment stating that he owes you the money. To get the judgment, you present evidence that the defendant owes you a debt and that he's consistently failed to pay. The defendant, in turn, can present evidence that he never incurred the debt, or that he paid it off. If you lose the case, you can no longer pursue the debt.

3

File for post-judgment discovery. As a creditor in Texas, you can ask your debtor for financial statements and other information to determine his income sources, like what bank he uses and types of accounts he has. Although debtors don't go to jail for nonpayment, if your debtor refuses to provide information, a judge can put him in jail for contempt of court until he answers.

4

Decide what you want to garnish, using your post-discovery information. If the debtor earns money in another state, you can take your judgment to a court there and apply for a garnishment. If the debtor has other income sources, such as royalties and rental income, they are vulnerable to garnishment in Texas. If the debtor has a bank account, you can garnish any non-exempt income he deposits up to the amount he owes. You can't touch deposited wages or other exempt funds, such as Social Security.

5

Apply to a court for a garnishment. If you've found money you can legally garnish and you have the court judgment in hand, a judge will authorize the garnishment.