Wage garnishment in Alaska

Most a card or medical judgment can take

25% of take-home pay or the part above $473 a week if that is lesssource

Pay you always keep

$473 a week; $743 if your pay alone supports your householdsource

Time to file a claim of exemption

15 days from the date you receive the notice of garnishmentsource

Permanent Fund Dividend

Only 20% of your PFD is exempt from ordinary creditorssource

How much can be garnished from my paycheck in Alaska?

Under AS 09.38.030, part of your weekly net earnings is exempt, meaning off limits to the creditor. Net earnings are your gross pay minus what the law or a court order makes your employer hold back, like taxes.

The statute still says $350, but the state adjusts it for inflation. Regulation 8 AAC 95.030 now puts it at $473 a week. Federal law separately caps ordinary garnishments at 25%. Your employer must apply whichever rule leaves you more:

• $550 of weekly take-home pay: at most $77 goes to the creditor.
• $800: at most $200.
• $1,200: at most $300.

Paid monthly? Divide your net pay by 4.3 to find the weekly figure. Paid twice a month? Divide by 2.17.

The Alaska writ that reaches your wages

The court order is called a Writ of Execution for Garnishment of Earnings. A creditor that won a judgment requests it on form CIV-507 and your employer answers the court on form CIV-526. The court’s page on executing a judgment lists the whole packet.

You should also get a Notice of Garnishment and Notice of Right to Exemptions (CIV-530) with a blank claim form attached. It states your protected amount and your filing deadline.

Each payday your employer sends the unprotected part to the court. The writ keeps running until the amount on it is paid, your job ends, the judgment is vacated or satisfied or the writ is dismissed. A second creditor’s writ waits until the first one ends.

How to stop or shrink a wage garnishment in Alaska

Your main tool is the Claim of Exemption from Garnishment, CIV-531. Use it when:

• Your pay alone supports your household. Swear to that on the form and the protected amount rises to $743 a week. On $800 of take-home pay, the cap falls from $200 to $57.
• Your employer figured the exemption wrong or you are not getting what the law allows.

Sign it before a notary or court clerk and file it with the clerk named on your notice within 15 days of receiving it. If a hearing is set, attend and prove your claim, by phone or Zoom if you ask.

Another route is a payment plan the creditor accepts. The self-help guide on paying a judgment says that while you keep up the plan, execution stops. Call and a garnishment specialist goes through your notice and that 15-day window with you.

Can my bank account or dividend be taken in Alaska?

Yes. A creditor can levy a bank account with a writ of execution. Within three days, it must send you a notice and an affidavit naming what it took. To protect exempt money, file a Claim of Exemptions (CIV-515) with the clerk within 15 days after the levy, as AS 09.38.080 requires. A late claim can count as giving it up.

Alaska’s $1,890 a month exemption for cash and deposits is only for people not paid weekly, twice a month or monthly. Regular earners claim the paycheck exemption instead, never both.

Your Permanent Fund Dividend can be taken too. AS 43.23.140 leaves just 20% of it exempt and no other exemption applies. Even that 20% is lost for child support, court fines, restitution, state agency debts or unpaid rent owed to a landlord.

Debts where the $473 floor does not apply

The Judgment Debtor Booklet, CIV-511, lists the exceptions:

• Child support: 50% of disposable pay stays protected if you support a spouse or child, 40% if not and 5 points less once you are 12 weeks behind.
• Back wages owed to an employee, local taxes or crime victim restitution: only the federal limit protects you.
• State taxes: no state or federal floor at all.

People who do not live in Alaska also get only the federal limit.