Wage garnishment in Oklahoma

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 claim an exemption

5 days from receiving the notice; later claims need a motionsource

How long a wage garnishment runs

180 days per summons, unless paid or dismissed soonersource

Hardship exemption

Only if you support a family or other dependentssource

How much of my paycheck can be garnished in Oklahoma?

Title 31, section 1 of the Oklahoma Statutes keeps 75% of the wages you earned in the last 90 days out of a creditor’s reach. Federal law adds a floor: nothing can be taken from weekly disposable pay of $217.50 or less, meaning pay after required taxes. When the two rules differ, the one that takes less wins.

Oklahoma adopts the federal $7.25 minimum wage, so the floor does not move. In practice, $700 of weekly take-home pay can lose up to $175. At $240, the most is $22.50. Wages also cannot be garnished before a judgment, except for support in a divorce case, under 12 O.S. section 1171.1.

The continuing earnings garnishment

Most Oklahoma creditors use a continuing earnings garnishment. Under 12 O.S. section 1173.4, your employer is served with the summons, the creditor’s affidavit, an answer form, a notice of garnishment and request for hearing and a claim for exemptions. The Oklahoma Bar Association writes these forms.

Within 7 days after each pay period, your employer files an answer with the court clerk and pays the withheld amount to the creditor’s lawyer. Your employer must also mail or hand you the notice and hearing papers. One summons holds your wages for 180 days or less if the judgment is paid, vacated or the summons is dismissed. After that the creditor has to file again.

How to stop wage garnishment in Oklahoma: the 5-day claim

The notice attached to a garnishment after judgment says you may have exemptions, such as Social Security benefits. 12 O.S. section 1174 says your claim should be filed with the court clerk within 5 days from receiving the notice and it asks for a hearing on the money you say is protected. After those 5 days, you can still raise an exemption, but you must do it by motion unless the creditor agrees.

The claim for exemption and the notice are posted on the Oklahoma State Courts Network. A garnishment specialist can go over your papers with you on a free call and help you get the claim filed inside the 5 days.

The undue hardship exemption for families

This rule is Oklahoma’s own. Under 31 O.S. section 1.1, you can apply for a hearing to keep the part of your pay needed to support a family or other dependents. A person with no dependents cannot use it and it does not work against child support.

The judge compares your family’s income and expenses with basic needs in your community: housing, food, clothing and transportation. The judge can exempt all or part of your pay. In a continuing garnishment, the judge can also return money taken in the 30 days before you filed or pause the garnishment for the rest of its term. Under section 1.3, family income above 120 times $7.25 or $870 a week, is left out of the hardship math.