Does filing a bankruptcy case stop a District garnishment right away?

Filing generally operates as an automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) the moment the petition is filed, with no separate order required, and that commonly halts continued collection on a prepetition judgment. It does not reach everything: § 362(b) excepts certain acts, including income withholding for a domestic support obligation. A creditor may ask for relief, but only the court, after notice and a hearing, can terminate, annul, modify or condition the stay (§ 362(d)).

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

Section 362(c)(3) applies where a single or joint chapter 7, 11, or 13 case is filed by or against an individual and 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 a 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 taken with respect to a debt, property securing that debt, or a lease. Extension requires a party in interest's motion, with notice and a hearing completed within the 30-day period, and proof that the later filing is in good faith as to the creditors to be stayed. This page does not address its effect on the stay of property of the estate.

What if two or more earlier cases were dismissed in the past year?

Section 362(c)(4) applies where a single or joint case under title 11 is filed by or against an individual and 2 or more single or joint cases of that debtor were pending within the previous year but were dismissed. A case refiled under a chapter other than chapter 7 after a dismissal under section 707(b) is not counted, though two other qualifying dismissed cases still trigger the provision. The stay does not go into effect upon the later filing. Within 30 days after the later filing, a party in interest may request that the court order the stay to take effect as to any or all creditors; that requires notice, a hearing, and a showing of good faith as to the creditors to be stayed, and the stay is effective on entry of the order.

Can your employer fire you because of a garnishment?

No employer may discharge an employee because a creditor has subjected or attempted to subject the employee's unpaid earnings to garnishment or like proceedings to pay a judgment (D.C. Code § 16-584). Federal law similarly bars discharge by reason of garnishment for any one indebtedness (15 U.S.C. § 1674). Those provisions address firing; they are not a remedy for an employer withholding the wrong amount, which is a separate question for the court.

Which exemptions apply if you recently moved to or from the District?

Domicile controls. Under 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(3)(A), applicable state law is that of the debtor's domicile for the 730 days immediately preceding filing; if domicile was not in one State then, it is where domicile was for the 180 days immediately preceding those 730 days, or for a longer portion of that period than any other place. Paragraph (3) also covers other federal exemptions and qualifying retirement funds; if the domicile rule leaves no exemption, the § 522(d) list may be elected.

Does the 25%-of-excess rule work the same way on a biweekly or monthly paycheck?

Not automatically. The weekly formula in D.C. Code § 16-572(1)(A) is written for a week, and § 16-572(1)(B) directs that for any other pay period the Mayor shall prescribe by regulation an equivalent multiple of the minimum hourly wage. This page does not supply that conversion, so if you are paid biweekly, semimonthly or monthly, ask a lawyer how the writ's calculation was derived and whether it matches the governing regulation.

Wages & debt

Wage Garnishment in District of Columbia: What the Law Says and What Bankruptcy Changes

In the District of Columbia, an ordinary wage attachment reaches 25% of the amount by which your disposable wages for a week exceed 40 times the District minimum hourly wage in effect when the wages are payable, not 25% of your whole paycheck (D.C. Code § 16-572). Support withholding, taxes and federal collection follow separate rules. Filing a bankruptcy petition generally operates as an automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362(a), subject to statutory exceptions, repeat-filing limits and court-ordered relief.

Key points

An ordinary District wage attachment reaches 25% of the amount by which your disposable wages for a week exceed 40 times the minimum hourly wage in effect when those wages are payable (D.C. Code § 16-572).
For any week in which your disposable wages do not exceed that 40-times figure, the employer-garnishee generally may not withhold any part of your gross wages, except as the support provision allows (D.C. Code §§ 16-573, 16-577).
A judgment debtor may move in the Superior Court to exempt additional wages for undue financial hardship; the court must hold a hearing as soon as practicable and no later than 30 days after the motion is filed, unless the movant requests a later date (D.C. Code § 16-572.01).
Support withholding, state or federal tax debts and other collection mechanisms are governed separately, so the 25%-of-excess rule does not describe every deduction that can appear on a pay stub.
Filing a petition generally operates as an automatic stay of prepetition collection under 11 U.S.C. § 362(a), subject to the exceptions in § 362(b), repeat-filing limits, and court-ordered relief after notice and a hearing.

If money is already coming out of your paycheck, the useful first step is knowing what District statutes actually permit, and what they require of the creditor and the court. Below is the ordinary post-judgment wage attachment framework for the District of Columbia, and what a bankruptcy filing changes about it. This is general information, not legal advice about your case.

How much of your pay can be garnished in the District of Columbia?

Under D.C. Code § 16-572, an attachment levied on wages becomes a lien and continuing levy on the gross wages due or to become due, for the amount specified in the attachment, to the extent of 25% of the amount by which your disposable wages for that week exceed 40 times the minimum hourly wage prescribed in § 32-1003, in effect at the time the wages are payable. Disposable wages are what remains after amounts required by law to be withheld (D.C. Code § 16-571), so the 25% applies only to the excess above the 40-times figure, not to your whole check. The levy continues until the judgment, interest and costs are fully satisfied, and in no event may the employer-garnishee withhold more than this section prescribes. Because the District's minimum hourly wage is adjusted annually under § 32-1003, the figure that sets the floor is the one in effect when your wages are payable.

Does the same limit apply to child support, taxes, or federal collection?

No. The § 16-572 percentage limits do not apply to execution on a District court judgment or order for support or maintenance of a spouse or former spouse, domestic partner or former domestic partner, or children; such execution may, in the court's discretion, have priority over other executions under this subchapter. The District limit is 50% of gross wages due for pay periods ending in a calendar month (§ 16-577). Separate federal support-garnishment limits, measured on disposable earnings, not gross wages, can lower withholding: under 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b)(2) the share depends on whether the individual supports another spouse or dependent child not covered by the order, and rises to the extent earnings are garnished for an older arrears period. Title 46 withholding stays distinct: a notice or order to withhold has priority over any other legal process and follows that subchapter's procedures and limits, subject to § 1673(b) (§§ 16-571.01, 16-582). Ordinary federal garnishment caps apply separately, with exceptions for support orders, chapter 13 orders, and State or Federal tax debts, which lift that cap without making withholding unlimited.

Different rules for different kinds of withholding
Type of withholding	Limit stated in these statutes
Ordinary money judgment	25% of disposable wages above 40 times the District minimum hourly wage (D.C. Code § 16-572)
Support execution in a District court	50% of gross wages due for pay periods ending in a calendar month (D.C. Code § 16-577)
Title 46 notice or order to withhold	Priority over other legal process; limits under Title 46 and 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b) (D.C. Code §§ 16-571.01, 16-577)

What do District of Columbia statutes require of creditors and courts?

Before a judgment is entered, D.C. Code § 16-583 provides that, apart from the exceptions it names, a creditor may not obtain an interest in the debtor's property by attachment, garnishment or like proceedings. On the day the creditor serves the writ of attachment on your employer, it must also mail you a copy at your last known address by certified and first class mail, together with a notice explaining the judgment, how the garnishment amount is calculated, and your right to ask the court to adjust it for financial hardship (D.C. Code § 16-572.02). Your employer must withhold and pay the creditor within 15 days after the close of your last pay period ending in each calendar month (D.C. Code § 16-573). The creditor must file a receipt with the clerk every three months, file a final receipt, and obtain a vacation of the attachment within 20 days after it is satisfied (D.C. Code § 16-574).

Which income is protected from garnishment under District of Columbia law?

For any week in which your disposable wages do not exceed 40 times the minimum hourly wage in effect when the wages are payable, the employer-garnishee generally may not withhold or pay over any portion of your gross wages, except as § 16-577 provides for support execution (D.C. Code § 16-573). "Wages" here is broad: compensation for personal services however denominated, including periodic pension or retirement payments (D.C. Code § 16-571). A different statute exempts, up to monthly amounts it specifies, earnings other than those wages, along with insurance, annuities and pension or retirement payments, for a District resident or a person who earns the major portion of their livelihood here, with a larger allowance for someone providing the principal support of a family (D.C. Code § 15-503). It also gives a nonresident who does not earn the major portion of their wages here the exemption their home state allows in cases arising from a contract made outside the District.

What happens if you change jobs or more than one creditor garnishes you?

If you resign or are dismissed while an attachment on your wages is wholly or partly unsatisfied, the attachment lapses and no further deduction may be made unless you are reinstated or reemployed within 90 days (D.C. Code § 16-576). Only one attachment on your wages may be satisfied at one time; where more than one is served on the same employer, the one first delivered to the marshal has priority and the others are satisfied in the statutory order of priority (D.C. Code § 16-572). An employer may not pay earnings in advance to defeat an attachment, and advance payments within six months after service of the writ, or before the judgment is earlier satisfied, are presumed to violate that rule, leaving the employer to prove otherwise (D.C. Code § 16-513). An employer that fails to pay over the prescribed percentages may have judgment entered against it for that amount (D.C. Code § 16-575).

Which statutory protections may matter when contesting a garnishment?

A judgment debtor may file a motion in the Superior Court seeking to exempt additional wages for undue financial hardship, and the court must hold a hearing as soon as practicable and no later than 30 days after the motion is filed, unless the movant asks for a later date (D.C. Code § 16-572.01). The court makes a form available for identifying the basis, including receipt of listed public assistance, household income, household size and household expenses; for a movant receiving that assistance, undue hardship is presumed. If the court finds undue hardship it must grant the motion, set the amount of disposable wages exempted, and order the employer not to withhold below that amount. On written notice of a court proceeding attacking the attachment or the underlying judgment, or of a hardship motion, your employer must stop withholding until it receives a court order ending the proceedings (D.C. Code § 16-573). Filing mechanics come from the courts' own rules (D.C. Code § 16-581).

How does filing bankruptcy affect a District of Columbia garnishment?

Filing a voluntary petition commences the case and itself constitutes an order for relief (11 U.S.C. § 301). On filing, and without any separate order or notice, § 362(a) operates as a stay applicable to all entities of specified acts, including continuing an action against the debtor that was or could have been commenced before the case, enforcing a prepetition judgment against the debtor or property of the estate, and acts to collect a prepetition claim. It is not universal: subsection (b) lists exceptions, including withholding of income for a domestic support obligation under a judicial or administrative order or a statute (§ 362(b)(2)(C)). Duration depends on what is stayed: the stay of acts against property of the estate lasts while the property remains estate property, and the stay of other acts runs until the earliest of case closing, dismissal, or the grant or denial of discharge in the chapters and individual cases § 362(c)(2)(C) describes. Repeat filings and court-ordered relief can change this.

What should you ask a lawyer about a District of Columbia garnishment?

A statutory overview cannot tell you what a particular writ allows or what your pay stub shows. Bring the writ of attachment, the notice you received and several recent pay stubs to a lawyer or a District legal aid office. Useful questions: how is my disposable wages figure calculated, and which deductions count as required by law under D.C. Code § 16-571? My pay is not weekly, so how should the equivalent contemplated by § 16-572(1)(B) be determined for my pay period? Do I have grounds for an undue financial hardship motion under § 16-572.01, and what documents would support it? Was this judgment entered by default or consent, and does § 16-580 or a claim of exemption under § 15-503 apply to me? If I filed a bankruptcy case, how would 11 U.S.C. § 362 apply to this garnishment, and would any earlier dismissed case affect the stay?

Frequently asked questions

Does filing a bankruptcy case stop a District garnishment right away?: Filing generally operates as an automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) the moment the petition is filed, with no separate order required, and that commonly halts continued collection on a prepetition judgment. It does not reach everything: § 362(b) excepts certain acts, including income withholding for a domestic support obligation. A creditor may ask for relief, but only the court, after notice and a hearing, can terminate, annul, modify or condition the stay (§ 362(d)).
What if one earlier bankruptcy case was dismissed in the past year?: Section 362(c)(3) applies where a single or joint chapter 7, 11, or 13 case is filed by or against an individual and 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 a 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 taken with respect to a debt, property securing that debt, or a lease. Extension requires a party in interest's motion, with notice and a hearing completed within the 30-day period, and proof that the later filing is in good faith as to the creditors to be stayed. This page does not address its effect on the stay of property of the estate.
What if two or more earlier cases were dismissed in the past year?: Section 362(c)(4) applies where a single or joint case under title 11 is filed by or against an individual and 2 or more single or joint cases of that debtor were pending within the previous year but were dismissed. A case refiled under a chapter other than chapter 7 after a dismissal under section 707(b) is not counted, though two other qualifying dismissed cases still trigger the provision. The stay does not go into effect upon the later filing. Within 30 days after the later filing, a party in interest may request that the court order the stay to take effect as to any or all creditors; that requires notice, a hearing, and a showing of good faith as to the creditors to be stayed, and the stay is effective on entry of the order.
Can your employer fire you because of a garnishment?: No employer may discharge an employee because a creditor has subjected or attempted to subject the employee's unpaid earnings to garnishment or like proceedings to pay a judgment (D.C. Code § 16-584). Federal law similarly bars discharge by reason of garnishment for any one indebtedness (15 U.S.C. § 1674). Those provisions address firing; they are not a remedy for an employer withholding the wrong amount, which is a separate question for the court.
Which exemptions apply if you recently moved to or from the District?: Domicile controls. Under 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(3)(A), applicable state law is that of the debtor's domicile for the 730 days immediately preceding filing; if domicile was not in one State then, it is where domicile was for the 180 days immediately preceding those 730 days, or for a longer portion of that period than any other place. Paragraph (3) also covers other federal exemptions and qualifying retirement funds; if the domicile rule leaves no exemption, the § 522(d) list may be elected.
Does the 25%-of-excess rule work the same way on a biweekly or monthly paycheck?: Not automatically. The weekly formula in D.C. Code § 16-572(1)(A) is written for a week, and § 16-572(1)(B) directs that for any other pay period the Mayor shall prescribe by regulation an equivalent multiple of the minimum hourly wage. This page does not supply that conversion, so if you are paid biweekly, semimonthly or monthly, ask a lawyer how the writ's calculation was derived and whether it matches the governing regulation.

Sources

D.C. Code § 16-572 — Wage attachment limits
D.C. Code § 16-571 — Definitions
D.C. Code § 16-573 — Employer duties on attachment
D.C. Code § 16-572.01 — Undue financial hardship motion
D.C. Code § 16-572.02 — Notice to judgment debtor
D.C. Code § 16-574 — Creditor receipts and accounting
D.C. Code § 16-575 — Employer failure to pay
D.C. Code § 16-576 — Lapse on resignation or dismissal
D.C. Code § 16-577 — Support or maintenance execution
D.C. Code § 16-580 — Quashing attachment
D.C. Code § 16-581 — Rules of procedure
D.C. Code § 16-582 — Application of subchapter
D.C. Code § 16-583 — Pre-judgment attachment
D.C. Code § 16-584 — Discharge of employee prohibited
D.C. Code § 16-571.01 — Support order priority
D.C. Code § 16-513 — Advance payment of earnings
D.C. Code § 15-503 — Exemptions from attachment
D.C. Code § 32-1003 — Minimum wage requirements
11 U.S.C. § 301 — Voluntary cases
11 U.S.C. § 362 — Automatic stay · official source
11 U.S.C. § 522 — Exemptions · official source
15 U.S.C. § 1673 — Restriction on garnishment
15 U.S.C. § 1674 — Restriction on discharge from employment

By Antonio G. Jimenez, Esq. · Florida Bar No. 21022

Sources verified October 20, 2026 · How we verify

Every figure on this page is drawn from a primary legal source and checked against our canonical legal database before publication. Bankruptcy.law is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.

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