Getting a Writ of Garnishment in Florida

A writ of garnishment is a collection tool, not a way to start a case. It comes after a judgment, as one of the steps available once a case ends in Florida small claims court or another civil court. The writ reaches money the debtor cannot easily move out of reach: a paycheck in the employer’s hands, a balance in a bank account, or a debt a third party owes the debtor. That third party, the one holding the money, is the garnishee. This article explains when the writ is available, the difference between garnishing wages and garnishing accounts, how a creditor obtains the writ, the notice and exemption process that protects the debtor, and what happens after the garnishee responds.

When a writ of garnishment is available

Garnishment is a court-ordered process for collecting on a judgment by reaching money or property the debtor owns but a third party holds, as the Legal Information Institute explains. In Florida the procedure is set out in chapter 77 of the Florida Statutes.

Two conditions have to be met before the standard writ is available. There must be a money judgment, and the creditor must identify a garnishee that holds the debtor’s wages, funds, or other property. Fla. Stat. § 77.03 sets the post-judgment step: after a judgment is entered, and before the writ issues, the judgment creditor files a motion stating the amount of the judgment. The motion does not have to be sworn, and it does not have to address the debtor’s exemptions. The clerk then issues the writ to be served on the garnishee. Florida also allows garnishment before judgment in narrow circumstances, but the post-judgment writ is the standard collection tool and the focus here.

Wage garnishment versus garnishment of bank accounts

Florida treats a garnishment of wages differently from a garnishment of a bank account or other one-time debt.

When wages are the target, Fla. Stat. § 77.0305 directs the court to issue a continuing writ of garnishment to the debtor’s employer. A continuing writ stays in force and captures a portion of each paycheck as wages come due until the judgment is satisfied or the court orders otherwise, so the creditor does not file a fresh writ every pay period. The statute lets the employer keep a small administrative amount from the debtor’s pay: up to $5 for the first deduction and up to $2 for each deduction after that.

When the target is a bank balance or another one-time obligation, the writ operates on the funds the garnishee holds at the moment of service rather than on a future stream. A bank served with a writ holds the nonexempt funds in the account and reports what it has. Because a deposit can include exempt money, the notice-and-exemption process below decides how much, if any, is actually applied to the judgment.

How the creditor obtains the writ

The steps below track chapter 77 from the motion through service.

1. Confirm a final judgment and the amount owed

   A writ of garnishment under Fla. Stat. § 77.03 is available after a money judgment is entered. The creditor calculates the unpaid balance, including any accrued statutory interest, because the motion has to state the amount of the judgment.

2. File the motion for writ of garnishment

   The creditor files a motion stating the amount of the judgment with the clerk of the court that entered the judgment. Under § 77.03 the motion does not need to be verified and does not need to negate the debtor’s exemptions.

3. Pay the garnishee deposit

   Under Fla. Stat. § 77.28, the party applying for the writ pays $100 to the garnishee, on the garnishee’s demand, toward the garnishee’s cost of responding. That amount is later accounted for as a cost of the proceeding.

4. The clerk issues the writ and the creditor serves the garnishee

   The clerk issues the writ, which commands the garnishee to answer stating what wages, money, or property of the debtor it holds. Serving the writ on the garnishee gives the court authority over those funds and, under Fla. Stat. § 77.06, creates a lien on the debtor’s property in the garnishee’s hands.

5. Send the required notice to the debtor

   After the writ issues, the creditor mails the debtor a copy of the writ, the motion, and, for an individual debtor, the statutory Notice to Defendant. Under Fla. Stat. § 77.041, this mailing is due within 5 business days after the writ is issued or 3 business days after it is served on the garnishee, whichever is later.

Notice to the debtor and the claim of exemption

Florida law builds in a notice step so a debtor can assert exemptions before money changes hands. For an individual debtor, Fla. Stat. § 77.041 requires the clerk to attach a “Notice to Defendant” to the writ. The notice explains that wages, money, and other property have been garnished and that state and federal law exempt certain categories from collection.

If the creditor does object, the court holds a hearing to decide whether the claimed exemption applies. The debtor may attend with or without an attorney. This exemption step is the main reason a garnishment of a bank account can take weeks to resolve rather than clearing the instant the writ is served.

Exemptions that limit or defeat a garnishment

The exemptions named in the notice can sharply reduce, or entirely block, what a writ collects. Wages carry the strongest protection in Florida.

Under Fla. Stat. § 222.11, all the disposable earnings of a head of family, meaning a person who provides more than half the support for a child or other dependent, are exempt from garnishment when those earnings are $750 or less per week. Earnings above $750 a week for a head of family also cannot be garnished, unless the debtor agreed to the garnishment in a separate written waiver. For a debtor who is not a head of family, wages can be garnished only up to the federal ceiling.

That federal ceiling comes from the Consumer Credit Protection Act. 15 U.S.C. § 1673 caps an ordinary wage garnishment at the lesser of 25 percent of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage.

Exempt earnings keep their protection for a time even after they land in an account. Section 222.11 provides that wages exempt under the statute stay exempt for 6 months after they are credited to a financial institution, as long as the funds can be traced and identified as earnings. Several other categories listed on the claim form are exempt regardless of amount, including Social Security and Supplemental Security Income, veterans’ benefits, workers’ compensation, and reemployment assistance.

After the garnishee answers

Service of the writ makes the garnishee liable for the debtor’s nonexempt funds and property in its possession and, under Fla. Stat. § 77.06, the garnishee reports in its answer what it holds and retains it pending the court’s decision. If the garnishee holds nonexempt funds and no valid exemption is established, the court enters judgment directing the garnishee to pay those funds toward the debt. A garnishee that ignores the writ can have a default entered against it.

A contested writ does not stay open on its own. Under Fla. Stat. § 77.07, the debtor or another person with an ownership interest can move to dissolve the writ within 20 days after the date on the certificate of service of the creditor’s notice, stating that an allegation in the motion for the writ is untrue; the court then tries that issue. The same statute dissolves a writ automatically if the creditor does not file a dismissal or a motion for final judgment within 6 months after filing the writ, though the creditor can extend that period for another 6 months by serving a notice of extension. A continuing wage writ, by contrast, ends on its own terms once the judgment is fully satisfied.

The garnishee’s costs are settled at the end. The $100 the creditor advanced under Fla. Stat. § 77.28 is treated as a cost of the proceeding, and on entering final judgment the court determines the garnishee’s costs and a reasonable attorney fee, which can be taxed against the debtor. A creditor who collects in full recovers the judgment plus allowable costs; a creditor who reaches only exempt funds recovers nothing and still owes the garnishee’s deposit.