Wage Garnishment in South Carolina: What the Statutes Limit and What Bankruptcy Changes

How much of your pay can be garnished in South Carolina?

Two South Carolina statutes do most of the work. Under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-39-410, a judge may order property of a judgment debtor that is not exempt from execution to be applied toward satisfying the judgment, except that the debtor's earnings for personal services cannot be so applied. For a debt arising from a consumer credit sale, consumer lease, consumer loan, or consumer rental-purchase agreement, regardless of where made, S.C. Code Ann. § 37-5-104 says the creditor may not attach the debtor's unpaid earnings by garnishment or like proceedings.

Federal law sets a ceiling where earnings are garnished. 15 U.S.C. § 1673(a) caps the part of weekly disposable earnings subject to garnishment at 25 percent, or the amount exceeding thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage, whichever is less. That cap does not reach support orders, orders of a United States court with jurisdiction over chapter 13 cases, or state or federal tax debts (§ 1673(b)). For an ordinary judgment, § 15-39-410 excepts earnings for personal services, and § 37-5-104 bars attaching unpaid earnings on listed consumer credit debts.

What do these statutes say a creditor and a judge may do?

The procedure in these statutes is a court procedure, not a payroll form. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-39-410 is written around a judge: after a judgment, the judge may order property of the judgment debtor that is not exempt from execution, whether it is in the debtor's own hands, in another person's hands, or due to the debtor, to be applied toward satisfaction of the judgment. The same sentence excepts the debtor's earnings for personal services from what can be applied that way.

15 U.S.C. § 1672(c) defines garnishment broadly, as any legal or equitable procedure through which an individual's earnings are required to be withheld for payment of any debt.

The statutes on this page do not set out South Carolina's forms, filing offices, or how notice reaches an employer, and this page does not invent them. A South Carolina lawyer or a legal aid office can read the paperwork your employer actually received.

What if the garnishment case was filed in a court outside South Carolina?

S.C. Code Ann. § 15-39-420(1) addresses ordinary court garnishment by a creditor who sued somewhere else. No employer in South Carolina may withhold any portion of the wages of an employee residing in the state as a result of garnishment proceedings brought in any court outside the state unless the creditor first obtains a judgment against that employee, growing out of the same indebtedness, in a South Carolina court of competent jurisdiction. The burden of proving that court's competent jurisdiction rests on the creditor.

Subsection (2) limits the section. It says the provisions of the section do not apply to any debt incurred outside South Carolina by the employee, and that there shall be no garnishment of earnings for personal services rendered by the employee regardless of where the debt was incurred. How those two clauses work together for your particular debt is a question for a lawyer, and this page does not resolve it.

Which income is protected from garnishment under South Carolina law?

South Carolina's pay protections come from two statutes. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-39-410 keeps the debtor's earnings for personal services out of the property a judge may apply toward a judgment. S.C. Code Ann. § 37-5-104 reaches a debt arising from a consumer credit sale, a consumer lease, a consumer loan, or a consumer rental-purchase agreement, regardless of where made, and says the creditor may not attach the debtor's unpaid earnings by garnishment or like proceedings. Note the limit of that statute: it addresses unpaid earnings, not a bank account or other property, and whether a particular debt falls into one of its categories is a legal question.

15 U.S.C. § 1672(a) defines earnings, for the federal limit, as compensation for personal services, whether called wages, salary, commission, bonus or otherwise, including periodic payments under a pension or retirement program. 15 U.S.C. § 1677 says the federal subchapter does not annul, alter or affect state laws prohibiting garnishment or providing more limited garnishment.

Which statutory grounds bear on objecting to a garnishment?

The statutes on this page do not give a South Carolina claim-of-exemption form or an objection deadline. What they give is substance a lawyer or legal aid office can work from.

S.C. Code Ann. § 15-39-410 excepts the debtor's earnings for personal services from the property a judge may apply toward a judgment. S.C. Code Ann. § 37-5-104 says the creditor may not attach unpaid earnings by garnishment or like proceedings on the consumer credit debts it lists. Where the proceeding was brought outside the state, S.C. Code Ann. § 15-39-420(1) puts the burden of proving the court's competent jurisdiction on the creditor, limited by subsection (2): the section does not apply to a debt the employee incurred outside South Carolina, and there shall be no garnishment of earnings for personal services wherever the debt arose. How both clauses apply to a particular debt is a lawyer's question.

No court or state officer may enforce an order violating 15 U.S.C. § 1673.

How does filing bankruptcy affect a South Carolina garnishment?

A voluntary case begins with a petition (11 U.S.C. § 301). Under 11 U.S.C. § 362(a), the petition operates as a stay of continuing an action against the debtor that could have been commenced before the case, of enforcing a pre-petition judgment against the debtor or property of the estate, and of acts to collect a pre-petition claim.

The same section writes in the limits. Section 362(b) lists acts the filing does not stay; for a paycheck that is § 362(b)(2)(C), 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. A case dismissed within the previous year can cut the stay short as to certain actions (§ 362(c)(3)), and two or more such dismissals can keep it from going into effect (§ 362(c)(4)), on conditions below. Each carries a narrow exception for certain refilings.

Which state's exemption law applies if you file?

S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-35 provides that no individual may exempt the property specified in 11 U.S.C. § 522(d) from the bankruptcy estate except as South Carolina law expressly permits.

That rule governs a filer whose exemptions South Carolina law decides, and § 522(b)(3)(A) picks that law by domicile: where the debtor's domicile was for the 730 days before the petition, or, if it was not in one state for that whole period, where it was for the 180 days preceding the 730-day period, or for a longer portion of those 180 days than any other place.

Other federal protection remains: § 522(b)(3)(A) reaches property exempt under federal law other than § 522(d), and § 522(b)(3)(C) covers retirement funds in tax-exempt accounts it lists. If the domicile rule would leave a filer eligible for no exemption, § 522(b)(3) lets that filer elect the § 522(d) property. Which law governs you is a lawyer's question.

What should you ask a lawyer about a South Carolina garnishment?

Bring the paperwork your employer received, your last few pay stubs, and anything from the court. Then ask questions the statutes on this page frame but cannot answer for your situation.

Useful ones: Which statute covers this debt, S.C. Code Ann. § 15-39-410, S.C. Code Ann. § 37-5-104, S.C. Code Ann. § 15-39-420, or none of them? Was the case filed in a South Carolina court or somewhere else, and if elsewhere, how do subsections (1) and (2) of § 15-39-420 apply to a debt like mine? Is any of what is being withheld a domestic support obligation, which 11 U.S.C. § 362(b)(2)(C) treats differently? Have I had a bankruptcy case dismissed in the previous year, and what does that do to the stay under § 362(c)(3) or § 362(c)(4)? Which exemption law would apply to me under 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(3)(A)? A South Carolina lawyer or a legal aid office can answer those against your actual documents.

Frequently asked questions

Does filing bankruptcy stop a South Carolina wage garnishment?

Filing a petition generally operates as the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362(a), which covers enforcing a pre-filing judgment and acts to collect a pre-filing claim. But § 362(b)(2)(C) does not stay income withholding for a domestic support obligation, repeat filings are handled under § 362(c)(3) and § 362(c)(4) (conditions in the next question), and a creditor can seek relief under § 362(d).

What if you had a bankruptcy case dismissed in the past year?

Under 11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(3), if a single or joint case under chapter 7, 11, or 13 is filed by or against an individual and a single or joint case of the debtor was pending within the preceding 1-year period but was dismissed, the stay "with respect to any action taken with respect to a debt or property securing such debt or with respect to any lease" terminates "with respect to the debtor" on the 30th day after the later filing. The rule does not apply to a case refiled under a chapter other than chapter 7 after a dismissal under section 707(b). On a party in interest's motion, the court may extend the stay after notice and a hearing completed before the 30-day period expires, only if that party shows the later filing is in good faith as to the creditors to be stayed. Section 362(c)(4) is a separate rule: if two or more single or joint cases of the debtor were pending within the previous year but were dismissed (same section 707(b) exception), the stay does not go into effect upon the later filing. If a party in interest requests within 30 days after the later filing, the court may order the stay to take effect, after notice and a hearing, only on a showing that the later filing is in good faith as to the creditors to be stayed.

Can a South Carolina filer use the federal section 522(d) exemptions?

Usually not the § 522(d) list. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-35 says no individual may exempt the property specified in 11 U.S.C. § 522(d) except as South Carolina law expressly permits. That rule binds filers whose exemptions South Carolina law decides, and 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(3)(A) picks that law by domicile, so a recent move can change the answer. Other federal protection still applies, and § 522(b)(3) lets a filer left eligible for nothing elect the § 522(d) property. Ask a lawyer which law governs you.

Can a creditor who sued you in another state garnish your South Carolina wages?

If the garnishment comes from a court outside South Carolina, S.C. Code Ann. § 15-39-420(1) generally bars a South Carolina employer from withholding the wages of an employee residing here unless the creditor first obtains a South Carolina judgment on the same indebtedness. Subsection (2) says the section does not apply to a debt incurred outside South Carolina, and that there shall be no garnishment of earnings for personal services regardless of where the debt was incurred. How both clauses apply to your debt is a lawyer's question.

Can your employer fire you because of a garnishment?

Different statutes answer that. S.C. Code Ann. § 37-5-106 says no employer shall discharge an employee because a creditor has subjected or attempted to subject unpaid earnings to garnishment or like proceedings to pay a judgment arising from a consumer credit sale, lease, loan or rental-purchase agreement, and 15 U.S.C. § 1674(a) says no employer may discharge an employee because earnings have been garnished for any one indebtedness. Both address firing, not whether withholding was proper.

Sources

• S.C. Code Ann. § 15-39-410 — Property which may be ordered to be applied to execution
• S.C. Code Ann. § 15-39-420 — Withholding of wages pursuant to foreign garnishment proceeding prohibited under certain circumstances
• S.C. Code Ann. § 37-5-104 — No garnishment
• S.C. Code Ann. § 37-5-106 — No discharge from employment for garnishment
• S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-35 — Exempt property
• 15 U.S.C. § 1672 — Definitions
• 15 U.S.C. § 1673 — Restriction on garnishment
• 15 U.S.C. § 1674 — Restriction on discharge from employment by reason of garnishment
• 15 U.S.C. § 1677 — Effect on State laws
• 11 U.S.C. § 301 — Voluntary cases
• 11 U.S.C. § 362 — Automatic stay · official source
• 11 U.S.C. § 522 — Exemptions · official source

Related

• State Wage Garnishment Limits and Exemptions
• Wage Garnishment Before and After a Bankruptcy Filing
• The automatic stay, explained
• Bankruptcy exemptions: what they protect and how they work
• Find a Bankruptcy Lawyer by State