Wage Garnishment And Income Withholding Order Services
In lots of cases, particularly those involving child support, you will be owed cash and require a method to collect on it. If the debtor is behind in payments or not making them at all, your best option is to execute an income withholding order.
If the judgment debtor has actually not paid the judgment debt when it is due, or made arrangements to pay it over time, California legislation gives the judgment financial institution the right to remove the money from the debtor’s wages. This is called wage garnishment.
The federal government limits how much you can garnish from an employee’s earnings to either 25% or 30 times the minimum wage for the job week, whichever is less. The basic procedure for gathering a judgment from a debtor’s salaries is similar throughout California, however there may be some distinctions from one county to another.
For example, in many areas, the Sheriff is the most commonly-used levying officer, while in other counties, someone else, like a licensed process server, would fill that function. To find out what you need to do in your county, call the Small Claims Advisor.
To collect from the debtor’s earnings, you must take the following actions:
Action 1. Receive a Writ of Execution (Form EJ-130) provided by the court clerk. Follow the California guidelines for issuing a writ, and fill out, file and pay the filing fees for both of these forms:
- Application for Earnings Withholding Order (Form WG-001)
- Earnings Withholding Order (Form WG-002)
The court clerk will stamp and copy all 3 forms and give the originals back to you.
Action 2. Make at least 3 copies of the three forms that have the court stamp on them. Store one for your own file.
Action 3. Hire a Registered Process Server (RPS) and give them:
- 2 sets of the documents that have the court stamp on them
- a check to cover the fee for garnishing the debtor’s wages that the levying agency in your county will charge. (You will need to get in touch with the suitable levying firm to see how much it will cost)
If you can not pay these costs, you may ask the court for a fee waiver. In this case, skip hiring a Registered Process Server and go directly to the office of the levying company with all of your paperwork, including the ordered fee waiver.
The Registered Process Server will then open a file with the Sheriff’s Office (or whatever other levying firm is appropriate in your region). This file will feature both the Writ of Execution and the Earnings Withholding Order, but there may be additional documents you’ll need. Contact the levying officer ahead of time to find out exactly what that office requires.
When the Registered Process Server has filed the papers with the levying office, he or she will then serve the Earnings Withholding Order on the debtor’s employer. The Registered Process Server at that point has 5 days to file the initial Writ of Execution and Proof of Service (on the employer) with the levying office.
The levying workplace will then collect the funds from the employer and send the money to you. The garnishment stays in place until you are entirely paid or the debtor leaves the job. Occasionally the employer does not collect the money from the debtor’s income. If this takes place, the employer is breaking the court order and runs this risk of being held in contempt.
When the debt has been paid– you must get rid of the Wage Garnishment.
When the wage garnishment is totally paid you MUST end the Writ of Execution. To do this, compose a note to the Sheriff’s office and ask them to release the garnishment. Your letter needs to consist of the:
- Court case number
- Sheriff’s file number
- Name of the judgment debtor (as written on the garnishment order)
- Name of the debtor’s employer
- Date when the garnishment will end
If you’re prepared to have an income withholding order served, call JPL Process Service at (866) 754-0520 and we will take care of it for you, even in as little as 24 hours.
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