Employer writs of garnishment
What to do when you receive a writ of garnishment?
A writ of garnishment is like a call from the Court. You answer it and follow the instructions.
Along with the writ of garnishment you received forms to answer and envelopes to put those answers in. The answer you provide also works as guidelines for how to follow the instructions on the writ! There are 3 answer forms for the Court, Creditor attorney, and the Debtor. The "garnishee" is the employer that is required to fill out the form. When you see "garnishee" just think "employer" or "alleged employer." The forms are based on whatever pay period you use: weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc. It is fine if pay varies from payroll to payroll, but the formula for withholding is always the same.
How much to withhold
The answer forms will show the payroll period gross wages, normal taxes/withholdings, government liens like child support, exempt funds (what the employee gets to keep), and ultimately a total amount that must be withheld each pay period until 60 days of pay periods have been withheld. In most instances, an employee (the debtor) will receive 75-80% of their after-tax and after child support (if applicable) wages. The small remaining amount is held pending further order from the Court. Helpful tip: The lines of the answer forms have numbers on the right side that look like (1) or (2). Those are the numbers to use. The numbers along the entire left side going from 1-26 are pleading lines and can be ignored.
We're holding money, now what?
As the 60 days of wage withholding gets closer, you will likely receive another set of instructions. These are the "second answer" to writ of garnishment. These tell the Court how much money was owing from the employer (garnishee) to the debtor at the time of the first answer, which is often $0, and then how much accrued since that time, and how much was withheld for the creditor. Like the first answer forms, the employer fills these 3 forms out and sends them to the Court, debtor, and creditor's attorney. About a month after sending the second answer in you will most likely receive an order from the Court to send the money withheld.
I received another writ. Does the process start over?
Yes. Because writs of garnishment apply to 60 days of wages a new writ of garnishment process will continuously start until the debt is paid in full or the parties reach some arrangement