For most ordinary debts — like credit card debt or a personal loan default — a creditor generally must first sue the debtor and obtain a court judgment before it can pursue wage garnishment. Once the judgment is entered, the creditor can request a garnishment order from the court, which is then served on the debtor's employer, directing the employer to withhold a portion of the debtor's wages.

Certain debts do not require this ordinary judgment process first. Child support, federal student loans, and unpaid taxes are common examples where the government or agency can pursue garnishment through an administrative process rather than filing a separate civil lawsuit.

Federal law sets a baseline limit on how much of a debtor's disposable earnings can be garnished for most ordinary debts, generally the lesser of a set percentage of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly earnings exceed a multiple of the federal minimum wage. Many states set even stricter limits than the federal baseline, offering debtors more protection.

Debts like child support and taxes are often subject to different, sometimes higher, garnishment limits than ordinary consumer debt, reflecting the different priority the law gives to those obligations. Multiple garnishments on the same paycheck are also subject to specific rules about which takes priority and how the total is capped.

Once served with a garnishment order, an employer is generally legally required to comply, withholding the specified amount from each paycheck and forwarding it as directed until the debt is satisfied or the order ends. Employers cannot simply ignore a valid garnishment order, but they also cannot garnish more than the order or applicable law allows.

Federal law also generally protects an employee from being fired solely because of a single wage garnishment, though this protection can be more limited if the employee has multiple garnishments for different debts, so understanding the specific protections that apply is important.

A debtor who believes a garnishment is improper — for example, because the debt was already paid, the wrong person was garnished, or the amount exceeds legal limits — can generally file an objection with the court that issued the order. Some states also allow a debtor to claim exemptions if the garnishment would cause significant financial hardship, though the availability of these exemptions varies.

Negotiating directly with the creditor before a garnishment order is finalized, or after receiving notice that one has been requested, can sometimes result in an alternative payment arrangement that avoids garnishment altogether, particularly if the debtor can show they can otherwise afford the debt through a manageable payment plan.