Writ of Garnishment

The court order a creditor uses after winning a judgment to direct an employer or bank to turn over a debtor's wages or funds.

A writ of garnishment is the actual paper a creditor gets from the court, after winning a judgment against you, that orders a third party — your employer, or your bank — to hand over money instead of giving it to you. Whoever receives it (the “garnishee”) has to comply or risk being personally on the hook for the money themselves.

The sequence usually goes: judgment gets entered, the creditor applies to the court for a writ, the court issues it, and it gets served on your employer or bank. Employers have to stay within federal and often stricter state limits on how much of a paycheck they can withhold. Banks freezing an account are generally supposed to notify you of your right to claim an exemption before the money actually gets turned over.

If you get served with one of these — or your bank or employer tells you one just arrived — you typically have a limited window to file a claim of exemption, arguing that some or all of the money is legally protected, whether that’s because it’s Social Security funds or simply below your state’s exemption threshold. Miss that window, and you can lose money that should’ve been protected in the first place.