Respond to a wage garnishment
If you received an Earnings Withholding Order (form WG-002), the other side has a court order that says your work can take up to 20% of your paycheck to pay off the money you owe. This is called wage garnishment.
If wage garnishment means that you can't pay for your family's basic needs, you can ask the court to order the debt collector to stop garnishing your wages or reduce the amount. This is called a Claim of Exemption.
Before you start
Act quickly to prevent wage garnishment
You can file a Claim of Exemption any time after wage garnishment has started, but you'll only get wages back from the time after you submit the claim. If you act quickly, you can stop it before it even starts.
How to ask for an exemption
-
Fill out court forms and make copies
Fill out these two forms:
- Claim of Exemption (form WG-006)
This tells the court and the other side why you need the exemption.
- Financial Statement (form WG-007/EJ-165)
The explains your financial situation so the judge and other side can see why you need the exemption.
-
Make copies
Make 2 copies of your forms. Keep one copy for yourself.
-
Give the Claim to the levying officer
Take or mail the original and 1 copy to the levying officer. You can find out who the levying officer is by looking at the upper right-hand corner of the Earnings Withholding Order (form WG-002). This is usually your local sheriff, but not always.
The sheriff (or levying officer) keeps the original and sends a copy to the debt collector.
-
Wait to see if the other side files anything
The other side has 10 days to file a form in court saying if they disagree.
Small claims collections
What's next?
If the other side didn't respond, you are done. You got the exemption.
If the other side responded, you will have a court date where a judge will decide your claim.