Wage garnishment in Indiana

Most a card or medical judgment can take

25% of disposable earnings or the part above $217.50 a week if lesssource

Lowest a judge can set it for hardship

10% of disposable earnings (lower under $242 a week)source

Cost to file the motion to reduce

No filing feesource

What is subtracted to get disposable earnings

Only income taxes, Social Security and Medicaresource

Indiana wage garnishment limits

Without any court action from you, the most an Indiana creditor can take is the smaller of 25% of your disposable earnings or the amount of them above $217.50 a week. Your employer, called the garnishee defendant, figures both and withholds the smaller one. Indiana Legal Help’s garnishment FAQ calls this the standard or maximum amount.

On $640 a week of disposable earnings, that is $160 a week. The money goes from your employer to the plaintiff (the creditor that won the judgment) or to the court clerk.

Why the number may look higher than expected

Indiana’s definition of disposable earnings is narrow. Only federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, Indiana state income tax and county income tax are subtracted. Health insurance, retirement contributions and union dues are not.

That means your disposable earnings can be more than the take-home pay on your stub. If you take home $560 but $80 of that gap is health insurance and a 401(k), your disposable earnings are $640 and the 25% is figured on $640. Check your employer’s math using that definition before you decide the amount is wrong.

How to lower a wage garnishment in Indiana

Indiana Code 24-4.5-5-105(2)(a) lets the court reduce a garnishment to as low as 10% if you show hardship. Indiana Legal Help’s wage garnishment reduction forms include everything you need:

1. An Appearance, which tells the court how to reach you.
2. A Motion to Reduce Garnishment to Ten Percent of Disposable Income.
3. An Affidavit in Support, listing your income, expenses and reasons.
4. Two orders the court staff fill in.

File them with the court that issued the garnishment, in person or by e-filing. Then send copies of the first three to the plaintiff’s lawyer by first-class mail or e-filing. The judge may set a hearing and will mail you the date. Call and a garnishment specialist goes through your budget and the forms with you.

What counts as hardship

Hardship means the garnishment makes it very hard to pay for housing, food, utilities, transportation or medical care. The form instructions and FAQ give examples:

• Returning to work after a layoff or cut hours or pay
• Higher rent, utility, daycare or medical costs
• Facing eviction, foreclosure or a utility shut-off
• Someone in your home lost a job or became ill
• Seasonal or unpredictable hours or a new baby

Write down real numbers in the affidavit. A judge decides on what you show.