In Missouri, so long as creditors follow Missouri law and obtain a court order for garnishment, they can legally intercept portions of a debtor's wages. This debt collection method is called wage garnishment. The three most common reasons for wage garnishment are creditors collecting on an unpaid debt, federal and state government collecting back taxes and custodial parents going after unpaid child support. Different rules apply to each scenario in Missouri.
Creditors
Creditors (like credit card companies) may garnish debtors' wages if they follow the proper procedure under Missouri law. First, a creditor must obtain a judgment against a debtor. That means the creditor has to sue the debtor and win a money judgment. Oftentimes a debtor may concede the suit knowing that the debt is unpaid, or simply not defend the case. If the debtor does not defend the case, the court may enter a default judgment against her. Once the creditor obtains a judgment, it may seek to garnish the debtor's wages. Missouri law places limitations, however, on the amount of wages a typical creditor can garnish. In Missouri, a creditor may only garnish 10 percent of wages for a head of household and 25 percent for a single person.
Taxes
In Missouri, taxing entities can garnish wages. The Internal Revenue Service may garnish wages to collect federal taxes. The Missouri Department of Revenue may garnish wages to collect delinquent state taxes. For delinquent taxes, the limitations normal creditors must observe do not exist. There is no limit to the percentage of wages a taxing authority may garnish. In addition, a state or federal taxing authority does not have to obtain a court order to effect a garnishment. These agencies can garnish through an administrative process.
Child Support
Custodial parents may seek to garnish the wages of a noncustodial parent who has failed to meet child support obligations. Limitations exist to the amount of wages a custodial parent may garnish a noncustodial parent's wages. However, these limitations are greater than the limitations for ordinary creditors. A noncustodial parent may have either 50 or 60 percent of his wages garnished. The amount garnishable is 50 percent for noncustodial parents who take care of a separate child or spouse and 60 percent for those who do not. In addition, a custodial parent may garnish another 5 percent for payments that are more than 12 weeks delinquent.
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