Wage garnishment in Idaho

Most a card or medical judgment can take

25% of take-home pay or the part above $217.50 a week if lesssource

Time to get your claim to the sheriff

14 days after the sheriff delivers or mails your paperssource

How long the wage order lasts

Until the judgment is paidsource

Exempt wages after deposit

Stay exempt up to $7,500 savedsource

Idaho’s limit on wage garnishment

Idaho writes the federal limit into its own code. Under Idaho Code section 11-712, a creditor can take no more than 25% of your disposable earnings for the week or the amount above 30 times the federal minimum wage, whichever is less. Disposable earnings means pay left after the deductions the law requires, such as taxes.

With the federal minimum at $7.25, the protected amount is $217.50 a week. On $500 a week of take-home pay, the most is $125. On $260 a week, it drops to $42.50. Child support, Chapter 13 bankruptcy orders and state or federal taxes follow different, higher limits.

The writ of continuing garnishment

To take wages, the creditor gets a writ of continuing garnishment from the court clerk. The Idaho Court Assistance Office posts the standard writ. It tells your employer to pay the county sheriff, not the creditor and it stays in force until the judgment, interest and costs are fully paid.

Idaho handles a second creditor in a set order. Under section 11-704, if one garnishment already takes the maximum, a later one cannot be served until the first is paid or takes less than the maximum. Later garnishments are served in the order they come in. The creditor must make sure it does not collect more than what is owed.

How to stop wage garnishment in Idaho with a claim of exemption

The sheriff serves you with a notice of exemptions and a claim of exemption form. The Idaho Supreme Court sets these forms and every sheriff’s office must have them in English and Spanish. The timeline is in section 11-203:

1. Deliver or mail the claim to the sheriff within 14 days after the sheriff delivers or mails your papers. A mailed claim must arrive within those 14 days. Weekends count.
2. The sheriff sends a copy to the creditor within one business day.
3. The creditor has 5 business days to file a motion contesting it. A hearing is then set 5 to 12 days later.
4. If the creditor does not contest, the sheriff releases the claimed money to you.

Call and a garnishment specialist goes over the 14-day date and the form with you.

Can my bank account be garnished in Idaho?

Yes, but Idaho protects a lot of money once it is in the bank. Section 11-713 says wages that were exempt stay exempt after deposit, up to an accumulation of $7,500. Social Security, SSI, veterans’ benefits, public assistance, unemployment, retirement and pension money, PERSI and workers’ compensation stay exempt with no dollar limit.

Mixing exempt and other money in one account does not end the protection. To sort it out, Idaho uses first in, first out: the oldest deposits are treated as spent first.