Garnishment - sustany/dvg GitHub Wiki

Garnishment refers to a court ordered process for collecting on a judgment, which takes money directly from the defendant�s wages or other third party who owes the defendant a debt. A garnishment order instructs a third-party who owes money to the�defendant, typically the defendant�s employer or the defendant�s bank,�to pay some or all of that money to the�plaintiff�instead of the�defendant. This third party is called a garnishee.

A court might garnish a�defendant's�wages for a variety of reasons including to pay�child support, student loans, or back taxes. The federal Consumer Credit Protection Act limits wage garnishments to 25% of an employee's take-home pay, or 30 times the federal�minimum wage, whichever is less. Additionally, many states have further restrictions on wage garnishments. For example, in Florida wages earned by the head of a household are deemed exempt wages and are therefore not subject to garnishment.�

A few courts allow�plaintiffs to request wage garnishment even before the�plaintiff�wins his or her case as a�provisional remedy under Rule 64(b)�of the�Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.�Typically, however, courts prefer to use other�provisional remedies like�attachment.