Wage garnishment is the order directing your employer to withhold a certain sum of money from your pay and deliver it directly to one of your creditors. The creditors can also be those to whom you owe taxes, child support, federal student loans, or alimony. These creditors can get wage garnishment without first filing a lawsuit as they have the right to take direct money from your paycheck.
If you owe unpaid taxes, the federal government has the right to deduct that money from your paycheck known as wage garnishment. However, Washington does not collect any municipal or state income taxes.
The creditors can’t seize all your money in the paycheck as there are different laws and limitations on how much pay can be garnished. In Washington, some rules exist over wage garnishment limits. Check the Washington state garnishment calculation on your wages that offers restrictions on wage garnishment.
Limits on Washington wage garnishment
Creditors in Washington can levy lesser if:
- 25% of your weekly disposable income, or 35 times your weekly disposable income less the federal minimum hourly rate.
- For private student loan debt, 15% of your weekly disposable income or
- your weekly disposable income less than 50 times the state’s highest income wage statute is in effect at the time the earnings are payable.
- For consumer debt, 20% of your weekly disposable income, or 35 times less of the state’s minimum salary.
In case you receive a wage garnishment notice, you have options to protect or get exclusion on some or all of your income by claming an exemption to the Washington court. Further, the state laws and the sort of debt the creditor is attempting to collect will determine the procedures you must follow to object to wage garnishment. You can also cease most garnishments by declaring bankruptcy. The amount of money you are allowed to keep is determined by the exemption laws in Washington state.
