Wage garnishment in Mississippi

Grace period after the writ is served

30 days of full paysource

Most a card or medical judgment can take after that

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

Small judgments

Wages are not bound if the debt is under $100source

Tax refunds and earned income credit

Up to $5,000 of each is exemptsource

Mississippi garnishment law: the first 30 days are yours

Mississippi Code section 85-3-4 exempts the wages of Mississippi residents from attachment, execution or garnishment for 30 days, counted from the date the writ is served. Your employer still owes you a full check during that month. Anything it owes you in those 30 days is paid to you, not held for the creditor.

Treat that month as your working time. It is when you can check the judgment amount, collect your pay stubs and weigh a payment plan, a settlement or bankruptcy before a single dollar leaves your check.

How much can be garnished from my paycheck in Mississippi after day 30?

From day 31 the limit matches federal law. The creditor gets the smaller of 25% of your disposable earnings (what is left of your pay after taxes and other required withholding) or the part of your weekly pay above 30 times the federal minimum wage. Mississippi has no state minimum wage of its own, as the U.S. Department of Labor state table shows, so $7.25 sets the floor at $217.50 a week.

With $400 a week of take-home pay, up to $100 can be withheld. With $250, only $32.50 can. At $217.50 or less, nothing can. Orders for child support follow their own limits of 50% to 65%.

How a Mississippi writ of garnishment keeps running

Under section 11-35-23, once the 30 days pass the writ binds the non-exempt part of your pay for as long as it takes to collect the amount shown on the writ, even past its return day. Your employer usually keeps what it withholds and pays the court one time when the full amount is reached, making at least one payment a year. If you leave the job, your employer has 15 days to tell the court and turn in what it holds.

The same law shields small debts. When the judgment is under $100, not counting court costs, your wages are not bound at all, unless the money is owed to the state or a local government.

Can a Mississippi creditor take money from my bank account?

Yes, but the reach is narrow. A bank garnishment covers money on deposit from the moment the writ is served until the bank files its answer and the bank has 30 days to answer. Money you deposit after that answer is not caught by that writ.

Section 85-3-1 protects up to $5,000 of earned income tax credit money, up to $5,000 of a federal tax refund, up to $5,000 of a state refund and most retirement accounts. Residents 70 or older get an added $50,000 exemption that can include bank deposits. MSLegalServices.org lists the intake lines for North Mississippi Rural Legal Services and the Mississippi Center for Legal Services. Or call us and a garnishment specialist will look over your writ, the 30-day date and the balance with you.