Wage garnishment in Wisconsin

Most a card or medical judgment can take

20% of take-home paysource

When nothing can be taken

Household income below the poverty line or need-based aidsource

How long one garnishment lasts

Pay periods in the 13 weeks after your employer is servedsource

Payday loans

Cannot be collected by earnings garnishmentsource

How much can be garnished from my paycheck in Wisconsin?

Under Wisconsin Statutes 812.34, 80% of your disposable earnings are exempt, so the creditor’s share is 20%. Wisconsin defines disposable earnings as pay left after Social Security tax and federal and state income tax on your pay stub.

Federal law adds a floor. The U.S. Department of Labor wage garnishment fact sheet bars any garnishment when weekly take-home pay is $217.50 or less and limits it to the amount above $217.50 up to $290. Wisconsin’s minimum wage is the federal $7.25, so that floor stays put.

• $250 a week: at most $32.50.
• $700 a week: at most $140.

These limits do not apply to support orders, tax debts or Chapter 13 bankruptcy orders.

The poverty line rule that can stop it entirely

Wisconsin goes further than most states for low-income households. Your earnings are fully exempt if:

• your household income is below the federal poverty line, or
• you get need-based public assistance such as food stamps, medical assistance or SSI, got it in the six months before your employer was served or were found eligible for it.

Household income means take-home pay for you and your dependents plus any unearned income that month. If taking 20% would push your household below the poverty line, the garnishment is cut to the amount above the line. The state court system publishes worksheets and poverty schedules for weekly, biweekly, semimonthly and monthly pay, revised every July 1 and they come with the garnishment papers.

Your debtor’s answer: how to fight a garnishment in Wisconsin

When the creditor serves you, it must include an exemption notice, a debtor’s answer form and those worksheets. Under section 812.37, you claim the poverty exemption, ask for the poverty limit or raise any defense by filling out the answer and handing or mailing it to your employer. You can do this at any time before or during the garnishment and you can send an amended answer later.

Your employer must accept the exemption as true until a court says otherwise and must mail a copy to the creditor within three business days. The creditor can then object and the court must schedule a hearing within five business days of the filing. You can also petition the court if keeping 80% still leaves you unable to pay for life’s necessities. Call and a garnishment specialist goes through your answer form with you.

How long a Wisconsin earnings garnishment lasts

The Dane County Clerk of Courts garnishment guide sums up the timing. Your copy must be served within seven business days after your employer is served and at least three business days before the first payday it affects. The garnishment then reaches pay periods in the 13 weeks after service on your employer. To keep collecting, the creditor must renew it, unless you agree in writing to continued withholding.

Public employers are different: when the federal, state or a local government pays you, the guide says withholding continues until the judgment is paid. The Waukesha County circuit court page adds that your employer honors only one garnishment at a time and the first one served goes first.