Paycheck Garnishment for Support - Limits

When a court orders child support and/or alimony, one frequent method of collection is by Income Deduction Order - IDO. The IDO is signed by a judge and sent to an employer. The employer is required to deduct specified amounts of money from each and every paycheck. This process is also called garnishment. Sometimes the employer has to act on several simultaneous garnishment orders. The orders can be for judgments, alimony, child support, student loans, and other various obligations. Added up, the orders can equal or exceed the take home pay of the employee.

Fortunately, there is a limit on the percentage of take home pay that can be garnished. The limit is spelled out in Federal Law - which is binding on Florida courts.

The Federal law is called The Consumer Credit Protection Act - 15 USC 171.  The amount of garnishment is limited to either 50% or 60% of wages, plus another 5%, depending on several factors:

50% - is the limit of take home pay that can be garnished if the person paying the support has an additional child or spouse they are also supporting (that additional person cannot be the one getting the garnishment money)

60% - is the limit of take home pay that can be garnish if there in additional spouse or child.

5% -  is the additional amount that can be garnished for support arrears that are over 12 weeks old.

Enforcing the Limit on Garnishment

Many state courts will not automatically recognize the Consumer Credit Protection Act. You must bring it to the attention of the judge. And this must be done at the time the support and income deduction order is considered. At any hearing where the garnishment limits may be exceeded, you should prepare by bringing a copy of the Federal Law. 

§ 1673. Restriction on garnishment

(a) Maximum allowable garnishment
Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section and in section 1675 of this title, the maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subjected to garnishment may not exceed
(1) 25 per centum of his disposable earnings for that week, or
(2) the amount by which his disposable earnings for that week exceed thirty times the Federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by section 206 (a)(1) of title 29 in effect at the time the earnings are payable,
whichever is less. In the case of earnings for any pay period other than a week, the Secretary of Labor shall by regulation prescribe a multiple of the Federal minimum hourly wage equivalent in effect to that set forth in paragraph (2).
(b) Exceptions
(1) The restrictions of subsection (a) of this section do not apply in the case of
(A) any order for the support of any person issued by a court of competent jurisdiction or in accordance with an administrative procedure, which is established by State law, which affords substantial due process, and which is subject to judicial review.
(B) any order of any court of the United States having jurisdiction over cases under chapter 13 of title 11.
(C) any debt due for any State or Federal tax.
(2) The maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subject to garnishment to enforce any order for the support of any person shall not exceed—
(A) where such individual is supporting his spouse or dependent child (other than a spouse or child with respect to whose support such order is used), 50 per centum of such individual’s disposable earnings for that week; and
(B) where such individual is not supporting such a spouse or dependent child described in clause (A), 60 per centum of such individual’s disposable earnings for that week;
except that, with respect to the disposable earnings of any individual for any workweek, the 50 per centum specified in clause (A) shall be deemed to be 55 per centum and the 60 per centum specified in clause (B) shall be deemed to be 65 per centum, if and to the extent that such earnings are subject to garnishment to enforce a support order with respect to a period which is prior to the twelve-week period which ends with the beginning of such workweek.
(c) Execution or enforcement of garnishment order or process prohibited
No court of the United States or any State, and no State (or officer or agency thereof), may make, execute, or enforce any order or process in violation of this section.

 

Attorney Howard Iken created this website to educate the public and to take the fear out of the divorce process.  CONTACT US NOW or call 800-469-3486

    

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