Wage Garnishment in Alaska: What the Law Says and What Bankruptcy Changes

How much of your pay can be garnished in Alaska?

Alaska law exempts part of your weekly earnings from ordinary judgment collection. The exemption for weekly net earnings set out in AS 09.38.030(a) is $473 (8 AAC 95.030); earnings above the protected amount can be reached by a writ. A separate, higher protection applies when an individual swears that their earnings alone support the household, explained below.

Federal law also limits ordinary garnishment to 25% of disposable earnings, or the amount above 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage, whichever is less, except for support orders, orders of a United States court with chapter 13 jurisdiction, and state or federal tax debts (15 U.S.C. § 1673).

If the debtor is a nonresident, the limitations in 15 U.S.C. § 1673 apply (AS 09.38.030(d)). Residents are entitled to the exemptions in Alaska's exemption chapter and nonresidents to those of their jurisdiction of residence; a resident is an individual physically present in the state who intends to maintain a permanent home here (AS 09.38.120).

What is the difference between net earnings and disposable earnings?

Weekly net earnings and disposable earnings are different measures. Weekly net earnings are weekly gross earnings minus all sums required by law or court order to be withheld; for monthly pay, subtract those withholdings from monthly gross earnings and divide by 4.3, and for semi-monthly pay, by 2.17 (AS 09.38.030). Disposable earnings, a federal term, means earnings remaining after deducting amounts required by law to be withheld (15 U.S.C. § 1672).

The increased protection in AS 09.38.050(b) is written in disposable-earnings terms: when an individual submits an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, that their earnings alone support the household, the exemption for weekly disposable earnings is $743, and the maximum part of that week's aggregate disposable earnings subject to execution may not exceed the amount by which those earnings exceed it (8 AAC 95.030).

The two measures are not interchangeable, so which one governs depends on the provision a particular protection is written under.

What do Alaska statutes require of creditors and courts?

Collection on a money judgment runs through the court. Process to enforce a judgment is by a writ of execution unless the court directs otherwise (Alaska R. Civ. P. 69(a)). A creditor asks the clerk to issue a writ of execution on garnishment of earnings using CIV-507, which identifies the judgment date and amount and any post-judgment payments and costs, and submits the employer's response form with it (CIV-507; CIV-526).

Only one original writ of execution for garnishment of earnings may be outstanding at a time, with narrow exceptions stated in the rule (Rule 69(e)(1)). The clerk delivers the writ and process server instructions to a peace officer or a licensed civilian process server (Rule 69(f)(1); CIV-561). The creditor must serve on you the documents required by AS 09.38.065(c), 09.38.075(b), 09.38.080(c) and 09.38.085, by certified mail as provided in Civil Rule 4(h) or by licensed civilian process server, and if none is available, by a peace officer (Rule 69(g)(1)).

Which income is protected from garnishment under Alaska law?

Beyond the weekly earnings exemption, Alaska exempts cash and other liquid assets month by month, but on a condition: the $1,890 monthly maximum applies to an individual who does not receive earnings weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly (AS 09.38.030(b); 8 AAC 95.030). Liquid assets there include deposits and receivables, but exclude permanent fund dividends.

The higher monthly maximum is not an automatic add-on to paycheck protection. Under AS 09.38.050(b), the AS 09.38.030 amounts may be increased when the individual submits an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, that their earnings alone support their household; a debtor claiming the cash and liquid-asset exemption may then reach $2,970 available in a month (8 AAC 95.030). It must be claimed, and it does not make every bank balance exempt.

Several payments count as earnings, income, cash, or other liquid assets while you hold them: disability, illness, or unemployment benefits, alimony or separate maintenance, bodily-injury proceeds, and amounts under a pension, profit-sharing, or annuity plan, unless they are exempt without limitation under AS 09.38.015 or 09.38.017 (AS 09.38.030(e)).

Which statutory protections may matter when contesting an Alaska garnishment?

An objection to a levy on the ground that the property seized is exempt must be filed with the clerk within 15 days after the levy. The burden of proving the validity of an exemption by a preponderance of the evidence is on the individual claiming it, and a late filing may be held a waiver unless the court excuses it for cause shown (AS 09.38.080(f)).

The court's garnishment notice sets a different trigger: a claim of exemption within 15 days from the date you receive the notice, using CIV-531, sworn before a notary public or court clerk (CIV-530). If a question arises about an exemption, an interested person may file a statement of the claim and the question raised; the court orders notice of a hearing, then makes findings and issues an order (AS 09.38.080(e)).

Federal law also bars discharging an employee because earnings have been garnished for any one indebtedness; that provision addresses firing, not the amount withheld (15 U.S.C. § 1674).

How does filing bankruptcy affect an Alaska garnishment?

The petition itself operates as a stay, applicable to all entities, without a separate order or notice (11 U.S.C. § 362(a)). It reaches actions against the debtor that were or could have been commenced before the case or that seek to recover a prepetition claim, enforcement of a prepetition judgment against the debtor or property of the estate, and acts to collect a prepetition claim. In practice that commonly halts an ordinary wage garnishment.

Protection is not unlimited. The stay of acts against property of the estate lasts as long as that property remains property of the estate; the stay of other acts runs on a different schedule set out in § 362(c)(2), and repeat filings, listed exceptions and court-ordered relief can change both. Withholding of income for a domestic support obligation under a judicial or administrative order or a statute is among the exceptions (§ 362(b)(2)(C)). A creditor may request relief from the stay; the court decides after notice and a hearing (§ 362(d)).

Which exemptions apply if you file bankruptcy in Alaska?

An individual debtor may exempt property under the 11 U.S.C. § 522(d) list, unless the state law applicable under § 522(b)(3)(A) specifically does not authorize it, or, alternatively, under § 522(b)(3). That alternative covers property exempt under other federal law besides subsection (d), or under the state or local law applicable where the debtor's domicile was located for the 730 days immediately preceding filing; if the domicile was not in one state for that period, it is where the domicile was located for the 180 days immediately preceding those 730 days, or for a longer portion of that 180-day period than in any other place. It also covers retirement funds in accounts exempt from taxation under listed Internal Revenue Code sections.

If that requirement would leave the debtor ineligible for any exemption, the debtor may elect the subsection (d) list. Alaska separately provides that in a proceeding under 11 U.S.C. only the exemptions under AS 09.38.010, 09.38.015(a), 09.38.017, 09.38.020, 09.38.025 and 09.38.030 apply (AS 09.38.055).

What should you ask a lawyer about an Alaska garnishment?

A short consultation goes further when you arrive with specific questions. Alaska legal services organizations and private bankruptcy attorneys can review the writ, the notice you received and your pay records.

• Which deadline governs my objection: the 15 days after levy in AS 09.38.080(f), or the 15 days from receiving the notice described in CIV-530?
• Would an affidavit that my earnings alone support my household be accurate for me, and what would I need to prove at a hearing (AS 09.38.050(b))?
• Which divisor applies to my pay period, and has my employer computed the weekly exemption correctly?
• Is this debt one of the claims that can reach exempt property under AS 09.38.065?
• If I file bankruptcy, how would § 362(c) apply given any earlier case of mine, and which exemption list would § 522(b)(3)(A) point to for me?
• What happens to money already withheld and held by the court?

Frequently asked questions

How does my employer know what to withhold?

Your employer completes form CIV-526, applying the larger weekly exemption: $473 under Alaska law or 75% of what the form labels weekly net earnings (CIV-526). Those measures differ: Alaska subtracts all sums required by law or court order (AS 09.38.030(a)), while federal law caps garnishment of disposable earnings, net only of amounts required by law, at the lesser of a share of them or the part above 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage (15 U.S.C. §§ 1672, 1673). Service creates a continuing lien on nonexempt earnings (AS 09.38.035); an earlier lien has priority, and a later writ takes full effect only when prior liens terminate (AS 09.38.040).

Which claims can reach earnings that are otherwise exempt?

A creditor may levy on earnings otherwise exempt under AS 09.38.030(a) or (b) when the claim is enforceable against exempt property under AS 09.38.065(a)(1) or (3): child support, unpaid earnings up to one month's compensation for personal services of an employee, state or local taxes, or a victim's claim including restitution arising from conduct resulting in a conviction or delinquency adjudication, or enforceable under an order of a court of bankruptcy as that subsection describes (AS 09.38.030(c)). Notice of the levy and its basis must be served (AS 09.38.065(c)).

Is my Permanent Fund Dividend protected from garnishment?

Twenty percent of the annual permanent fund dividend payable to an individual is exempt from levy, execution, garnishment, attachment or any other remedy for the collection of debt, and no other exemption applies to a dividend (AS 43.23.140(a)). That exemption is not available for the claims listed in subsection (b), including child support, court-ordered restitution, defaulted education loans, court-ordered fines and certain debts owed to state agencies. Alaska's liquid-asset exemption also excludes dividends (AS 09.38.030(b)).

Does bankruptcy stop child-support income withholding?

Filing does not stay the withholding of income that is property of the estate or of the debtor for payment of a domestic support obligation under a judicial or administrative order or a statute (11 U.S.C. § 362(b)(2)(C)). Under state law, exemptions in AS 09.38 do not apply to income withholding under the child support chapter, and such an order has priority over other garnishments unless the court orders otherwise (AS 25.27.062(g); AS 25.27.250(i)).

What if one earlier case of mine was dismissed in the past year?

Section 362(c)(3) applies to a single or joint chapter 7, 11, or 13 case filed by or against an individual when a single or joint case of that debtor was pending within the preceding 1-year period but was dismissed, other than a case refiled under a chapter other than chapter 7 after dismissal under section 707(b). The stay then terminates with respect to the debtor on the 30th day after the later filing, as to any action with respect to a debt, property securing that debt, or any lease. The extent of any remaining protection is a question for a lawyer. A party in interest may move to extend the stay as to any or all creditors, subject to the court's conditions, but only on notice and a hearing completed before the 30 days run and a showing of good faith as to the creditors to be stayed. Repeat filings can be presumptively not in good faith, rebuttable only by clear and convincing evidence (11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(3)).

What if two or more earlier cases were dismissed?

Section 362(c)(4) applies when a single or joint case is filed by or against an individual and two or more single or joint cases of that debtor were pending within the previous year but were dismissed, other than a case refiled under a chapter other than chapter 7 after dismissal under section 707(b). No stay goes into effect on the later filing. Within 30 days after that filing, a party in interest may request one; the court may order the stay to take effect as to any or all creditors, subject to its conditions, after notice and a hearing, only on a showing that the later filing is in good faith as to the creditors to be stayed. Such a stay is effective on the date the order is entered, and repeat filings can be presumptively not in good faith, rebuttable only by clear and convincing evidence (11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(4)).

Sources

• 8 AAC 95.030
• Alaska Stat. § 09.38.030
• Alaska Stat. § 09.38.035
• Alaska Stat. § 09.38.040
• Alaska Stat. § 09.38.050
• Alaska Stat. § 09.38.055
• Alaska Stat. § 09.38.015
• Alaska Stat. § 09.38.017
• Alaska Stat. § 09.38.065
• Alaska Stat. § 09.38.075
• Alaska Stat. § 09.38.080
• Alaska Stat. § 09.38.085
• Alaska Stat. § 09.38.120
• Alaska Stat. § 43.23.140
• Alaska Stat. § 25.27.062
• Alaska Stat. § 25.27.250
• Alaska R. Civ. P. 69
• Alaska Courts CIV-507
• Alaska Courts CIV-526
• Alaska Courts CIV-530
• Alaska Courts CIV-531
• Alaska Courts CIV-561
• 11 U.S.C. § 362 · official source
• 11 U.S.C. § 522 · official source
• 15 U.S.C. § 1672
• 15 U.S.C. § 1673
• 15 U.S.C. § 1674

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