What wage garnishment is
Wage garnishment is a legal process in which a court orders your employer to withhold part of your earnings and pay that money directly to a creditor to satisfy a debt you owe. For most consumer debts - credit cards, medical bills, personal loans - the creditor must first sue you and win a money judgment before a court will authorize garnishment. The order goes to your employer, not to you, and your employer is legally required to comply.
The withholding continues, paycheck after paycheck, until the debt (plus any interest and court costs the judgment allows) is paid in full or the order is lifted. According to the CFPB, garnishment is a serious collection tool, but it is also bound by federal rules that limit how much can be taken and that protect you from being fired solely because one debt is being garnished. A handful of debts - such as child support, unpaid federal taxes, and defaulted federal student loans - can be garnished without a new lawsuit and follow their own separate limits.
How it usually starts (lawsuit + judgment)
For ordinary consumer debts, garnishment does not happen out of nowhere - it is the end of a court process. First, the creditor or a debt buyer files a lawsuit against you. If you respond and the creditor proves its case, the court enters a judgment; if you ignore the lawsuit and miss the deadline to answer, the court can enter a default judgment against you without hearing your side. Either way, the judgment is what gives the creditor the legal power to collect.
With a judgment in hand, the creditor asks the court for a garnishment order (sometimes called a writ), which is then served on your employer. This is why the CFPB stresses not ignoring a debt lawsuit: responding on time preserves defenses and can prevent a default judgment that leads straight to garnishment. Note the major exceptions - child support, federal taxes, and federal student loans can move to garnishment through administrative processes without first suing you in court, so those should not be ignored either.
How much they can take (the 25% CCPA cap)
Federal law limits how much of your pay an ordinary creditor can garnish. Under the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA), enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor, garnishment for most consumer debts is capped at the lesser of two amounts: 25% of your weekly disposable earnings, or the amount by which your disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage. "Disposable earnings" means what is left after legally required deductions such as taxes and Social Security. If you earn at or below the 30x-minimum-wage floor, your wages generally cannot be garnished at all for these debts.
Different rules apply to certain debts. The Department of Labor notes that child and spousal support orders can reach up to 50-60% of disposable earnings, and unpaid federal taxes and defaulted federal student loans follow their own formulas. Some states also set lower garnishment limits than federal law, in which case the more protective state limit applies. The CFPB recommends checking your state's rules, since your actual protection may be greater than the federal floor.
How to stop or reduce it
You usually have options, especially if you act quickly. If you were never properly served or had a valid defense, you may be able to ask the court to vacate the underlying default judgment, which can halt the garnishment built on it. You can also file a claim of exemption to protect income the law shields - such as Social Security, veterans' benefits, or wages below your state's limit - or challenge an amount that exceeds the CCPA cap.
Other paths include negotiating directly with the creditor for a lump-sum settlement or a voluntary payment plan, which can persuade it to release the garnishment, and paying the judgment in full to end it. Because garnishment ties to a court judgment, the CFPB suggests considering whether a consumer law attorney or a nonprofit credit counselor can help, and many courts offer self-help resources. In some situations, filing for bankruptcy triggers an automatic stay that pauses most garnishments. For step-by-step guidance, see the related resources on stopping a garnishment and vacating a default judgment below.