Does federal law also limit how much of my paycheck can be taken?

Yes. For an ordinary garnishment, federal law caps weekly disposable earnings taken at the lesser of 25 percent or the amount exceeding thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage (15 U.S.C. § 1673); a more protective state rule controls (15 U.S.C. § 1677). Those caps do not reach support orders from a court of competent jurisdiction or a state administrative procedure affording substantial due process and judicial review, orders of a United States court in a chapter 13 case, or state or federal tax debts. Support has separate limits.

How do I find out whether my household income is below the poverty line?

The creditor must serve the judicial conference's schedules and worksheets on you together with the garnishment papers (Wis. Stat. § 812.35). The schedules divide the annual poverty line for families of various sizes, with separate versions for weekly, biweekly, semimonthly and monthly pay, and are revised annually to take effect July 1 for garnishments or extensions commencing after that date (Wis. Stat. § 812.34). Household size, pay frequency and the applicable schedule drive the comparison.

Does filing bankruptcy stop child support income withholding?

Generally no. The Code excepts from the 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). Wisconsin's own earnings exemptions also do not apply to a judgment debt for the support of any person (Wis. Stat. § 812.34). Support is treated differently from ordinary judgment collection.

What happens to the stay if one of my earlier cases was dismissed in the past year?

If a single or joint case is filed by or against an individual under chapter 7, 11, or 13 and an earlier case was pending within the preceding year but was dismissed — other than one refiled under a chapter other than chapter 7 after a chapter 7 abuse dismissal — the stay terminates "with respect to the debtor" on the 30th day after the later filing, and only "with respect to any action taken with respect to a debt or property securing such debt or with respect to any lease" (11 U.S.C. § 362). An extension requires a party in interest's motion, notice and a hearing completed before those 30 days expire, on a good-faith showing as to the creditors stayed.

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

If a single or joint case is filed by or against an individual under title 11 and two or more cases were pending within the previous year but dismissed — again excepting a case refiled under a chapter other than chapter 7 after a chapter 7 abuse dismissal — no stay under subsection (a) goes into effect on the later filing. If a party in interest requests one within 30 days after that filing, the court may impose a stay after notice and a hearing, on a good-faith showing as to the creditors to be stayed; it is effective when the order is entered (11 U.S.C. § 362).

Can my employer fire me because of a wage garnishment?

Unless a collective bargaining agreement permits it, a garnishee may not impose a fee or take adverse action against a debtor because of an earnings garnishment, and the debtor may sue for reinstatement, back wages and benefits (Wis. Stat. § 812.43). Separate rules bar discharge because a merchant garnished earnings on a consumer credit judgment, with a 90-day suit deadline (Wis. Stat. § 425.110), and discharge for garnishment for any one indebtedness (15 U.S.C. § 1674). These address firing, not withheld wages.

Wages & debt

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

Wisconsin law exempts 80 percent of a debtor's disposable earnings from ordinary earnings garnishment, leaving at most 20 percent for a judgment creditor, and exempts earnings entirely when household income falls below the poverty line (Wis. Stat. § 812.34). Those exemptions do not apply to a judgment debt for support, unpaid taxes, or one ordered under Wisconsin Statutes section 128.21 or by a United States court in a chapter 13 case. Filing bankruptcy generally triggers the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362(a), subject to exceptions and repeat-filing limits.

Key points

Wisconsin exempts 80 percent of disposable earnings from ordinary earnings garnishment, so no more than 20 percent is ordinarily available to a judgment creditor (Wis. Stat. § 812.34).
Earnings can be totally exempt when household income is below the poverty line or when need-based public assistance applies, and that exemption is claimed on an answer form delivered or mailed to the garnishee (Wis. Stat. § 812.37).
Those state exemptions do not reach a judgment debt for the support of any person, for unpaid taxes, or one ordered under Wisconsin Statutes section 128.21 or by a United States court in a chapter 13 case (Wis. Stat. § 812.34).
An earnings garnishment reaches pay periods beginning within 13 weeks after service, but written stipulated extensions and court orders can change that (Wis. Stat. § 812.40).
Filing a bankruptcy petition generally operates as a stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362(a), subject to statutory exceptions, repeat-filing limits, and court-ordered relief.

If your paycheck is already short, this is not an abstract question. Wisconsin's earnings garnishment statutes limit what a judgment creditor can take, protect some households entirely, and give you a form to claim that protection. This page sets out what those statutes say, where that form goes, and what filing bankruptcy does and does not change.

How much of your pay can be garnished in Wisconsin?

An earnings garnishment collects an unsatisfied civil judgment for money damages plus statutory interest and costs from earnings payable by your employer (Wis. Stat. § 812.32). The limit is framed as an exemption, not a deduction: unless the court grants relief, 80 percent of the debtor's disposable earnings are exempt, so ordinarily no more than 20 percent is available to the creditor (Wis. Stat. § 812.34).

Disposable earnings are not gross pay, and not take-home pay after every deduction. The statute defines them as the part of your earnings remaining after deducting social security taxes and the federal and state income taxes listed on your wage statement (Wis. Stat. § 812.30).

Court-ordered assignments of earnings for support or maintenance take priority. If your earnings are assigned for support, the creditor is not entitled to more than 25 percent of your disposable earnings less the assigned amount — an additional ceiling, not permission to take 25 percent while 80 percent stays exempt; your employer pays only the nonexempt earnings the creditor is entitled to (Wis. Stat. § 812.39).

What do Wisconsin statutes require of creditors and courts?

A creditor starts an earnings garnishment by filing a garnishment notice with the clerk of courts, who then issues two earnings garnishment forms for each garnishee (Wis. Stat. § 812.35). Within 60 days after filing that notice, the creditor must serve one form on the garnishee and one on you. That 60-day window is the creditor's deadline for serving papers, not a deadline for you to respond.

At the time the earnings garnishment form is served on you, the creditor must also serve an exemption notice, a debtor's answer form, and the poverty schedules and worksheets the judicial conference adopts under Wis. Stat. § 812.34 (Wis. Stat. § 812.35). Service on the debtor must occur within 7 business days after service on the garnishee and at least 3 business days before the payday of the first affected pay period; service by mail is complete upon mailing.

These procedures govern earnings garnishment regardless of the size of the judgment debt (Wis. Stat. § 812.31).

Which income is protected from garnishment under Wisconsin law?

Your earnings are totally exempt if your household income is below the poverty line, or if you receive need-based public assistance, received it within 6 months before the garnishment forms were served on the garnishee, or have been determined eligible although benefits have not yet begun (Wis. Stat. § 812.34). A partial protection also applies: if garnishing 20 percent would put your household income below the poverty line, the garnishment is limited to your household income above that line.

Household income is a defined term — the disposable earnings of you and your dependents during any month the garnishment is in effect, plus unearned income received that month, less earnings assigned by court order for support (Wis. Stat. § 812.30).

Three judgment debts fall outside these exemptions entirely: one ordered under s. 128.21 of the Wisconsin Statutes or by a court of the United States in a chapter 13 case, one for the support of any person, and one for unpaid taxes (Wis. Stat. § 812.34).

How long does a Wisconsin earnings garnishment last?

Once served, your employer determines whether it may owe you earnings for pay periods beginning within 13 weeks after service (Wis. Stat. § 812.35). If that is unlikely, it tells the creditor. If an earlier garnishment is in effect and not terminated, it holds the new form and starts it the pay period after that one ends.

That is not an expiration of the debt. You and the creditor may stipulate in writing to an extension for additional pay periods, ending within 13 weeks after the last affected pay period; the extension is void if the garnishee is served before that last day by a creditor seeking to satisfy a different judgment against you (Wis. Stat. § 812.40). A court order allowing the garnishment to proceed substitutes its own service date in measuring the 13-week period (Wis. Stat. § 812.38).

Earnings payable by the state of Wisconsin or one of its political subdivisions, and garnishment for court-ordered victim restitution, remain effective until the judgment is satisfied, unless sooner terminated by order of the court (Wis. Stat. § 812.42; Wis. Stat. § 812.405).

Which statutory protections may matter when contesting a Wisconsin garnishment?

You claim a total exemption, the poverty-line limit, or another defense by completing the debtor's answer form and delivering or mailing it to the garnishee — your employer — not only to the court (Wis. Stat. § 812.37). You or your spouse may file an answer or an amended answer at any time before or during the effective period of the garnishment. Unless served with a court order directing otherwise, the garnishee must accept as true and binding an exemption claimed in an answer received before payment to the creditor.

Timing matters: the garnishee pays the creditor between 5 and 10 business days after each affected payday, so an answer received before that payment is the one that binds it (Wis. Stat. § 812.39).

The creditor may object in writing and move for a hearing; you may petition for relief if the exemption percentage is insufficient to acquire the necessities of life (Wis. Stat. § 812.38). Within 5 business days after a motion or petition is filed, the court schedules the matter for a hearing, held as promptly as practicable.

How is a bank account garnishment different from a wage garnishment?

Chapter 812 has two tracks: subchapter I governs all garnishments except the garnishment of earnings, reaching money a third party owes you or property it holds, including a bank account (Wis. Stat. § 812.01). A garnishee complaint under that subchapter concerns property other than earnings (Wis. Stat. § 812.05), and the defendant may answer and defend within 20 days from service of the garnishee summons and complaint on the defendant (Wis. Stat. § 812.15).

A financial institution is liable for the garnishable amount in the account when it is first reasonably able to put the garnishment into effect, and no later than the end of the second business day after the business day it receives the papers (Wis. Stat. § 812.19).

Which deposited funds stay exempt, and whether property traceable to an exempt payment is itself exempt, is a separate question under Wis. Stat. § 815.18, which exempts traceable property only where expressly provided. An earnings garnishment may not be brought for a payday loan debt as defined by statute (Wis. Stat. § 812.35).

How does filing bankruptcy affect a Wisconsin garnishment?

Filing a voluntary petition commences the case and constitutes an order for relief (11 U.S.C. § 301). The petition operates as a stay of proceedings against the debtor that were or could have been commenced before the case, of acts to collect a prepetition claim, and of enforcement of a prepetition judgment against the debtor or estate property (11 U.S.C. § 362). No separate order is required. Statutory exceptions apply; the filing does not stay withholding of income that is property of the estate or of the debtor for a domestic support obligation under a judicial or administrative order or a statute.

The stay of an act against estate property continues until that property is no longer property of the estate; the stay of any other act continues until the earliest of the case closing, dismissal, or, where the statute provides, the granting or denial of a discharge. On request of a party in interest, after notice and a hearing, the court may grant relief on statutory grounds. Repeat filings differ; see below.

What should you ask a lawyer about a Wisconsin garnishment?

Nothing here determines your rights, and the hardest questions turn on facts a statute cannot supply. Wisconsin legal aid or a consumer bankruptcy attorney can read your garnishment papers alongside your wage statement.

Which exemption list applies is itself a legal question. Under 11 U.S.C. § 522(b), the applicable law is that of the place where your domicile was located for the 730 days before filing, or, if not a single state for that period, where it was located for the 180 days immediately preceding those 730 days — or for a longer portion of that period than any other place. That paragraph reaches state law, federal exemptions other than the subsection (d) list, and tax-exempt retirement funds. If that domiciliary requirement leaves the debtor ineligible for any exemption, the debtor may elect the property specified under subsection (d).

Does the court's poverty schedule for my household size and pay frequency put my income below the line?
Did my employer withhold more than the subchapter allows (Wis. Stat. § 812.41)?
Is this debt one the Wisconsin earnings exemptions do not reach?

Frequently asked questions

Does federal law also limit how much of my paycheck can be taken?: Yes. For an ordinary garnishment, federal law caps weekly disposable earnings taken at the lesser of 25 percent or the amount exceeding thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage (15 U.S.C. § 1673); a more protective state rule controls (15 U.S.C. § 1677). Those caps do not reach support orders from a court of competent jurisdiction or a state administrative procedure affording substantial due process and judicial review, orders of a United States court in a chapter 13 case, or state or federal tax debts. Support has separate limits.
How do I find out whether my household income is below the poverty line?: The creditor must serve the judicial conference's schedules and worksheets on you together with the garnishment papers (Wis. Stat. § 812.35). The schedules divide the annual poverty line for families of various sizes, with separate versions for weekly, biweekly, semimonthly and monthly pay, and are revised annually to take effect July 1 for garnishments or extensions commencing after that date (Wis. Stat. § 812.34). Household size, pay frequency and the applicable schedule drive the comparison.
Does filing bankruptcy stop child support income withholding?: Generally no. The Code excepts from the 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). Wisconsin's own earnings exemptions also do not apply to a judgment debt for the support of any person (Wis. Stat. § 812.34). Support is treated differently from ordinary judgment collection.
What happens to the stay if one of my earlier cases was dismissed in the past year?: If a single or joint case is filed by or against an individual under chapter 7, 11, or 13 and an earlier case was pending within the preceding year but was dismissed — other than one refiled under a chapter other than chapter 7 after a chapter 7 abuse dismissal — the stay terminates "with respect to the debtor" on the 30th day after the later filing, and only "with respect to any action taken with respect to a debt or property securing such debt or with respect to any lease" (11 U.S.C. § 362). An extension requires a party in interest's motion, notice and a hearing completed before those 30 days expire, on a good-faith showing as to the creditors stayed.
What if two or more of my cases were dismissed in the past year?: If a single or joint case is filed by or against an individual under title 11 and two or more cases were pending within the previous year but dismissed — again excepting a case refiled under a chapter other than chapter 7 after a chapter 7 abuse dismissal — no stay under subsection (a) goes into effect on the later filing. If a party in interest requests one within 30 days after that filing, the court may impose a stay after notice and a hearing, on a good-faith showing as to the creditors to be stayed; it is effective when the order is entered (11 U.S.C. § 362).
Can my employer fire me because of a wage garnishment?: Unless a collective bargaining agreement permits it, a garnishee may not impose a fee or take adverse action against a debtor because of an earnings garnishment, and the debtor may sue for reinstatement, back wages and benefits (Wis. Stat. § 812.43). Separate rules bar discharge because a merchant garnished earnings on a consumer credit judgment, with a 90-day suit deadline (Wis. Stat. § 425.110), and discharge for garnishment for any one indebtedness (15 U.S.C. § 1674). These address firing, not withheld wages.

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

Sources verified October 12, 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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