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Training For Delaware Garnishment Law Requirements

What Is A Garnishment?

A wage garnishment is any legal or equitable procedure through which some portion of a person's earnings is required to be withheld by an employer for the payment of a debt. The six basic types of garnishments are child support, federal, state, or local levies, creditor garnishments, and student loans, with the largest amount of garnishments being for child support.

Delaware Garnishment Law Requirements

Delaware employers that receive a wage garnishment must comply with Delaware garnishment requirements as well as applicable federal law. Delaware generally limits ordinary wage garnishments to the lesser of 15% of an employee's disposable earnings or the amount by which disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage. Special rules apply to child support, taxes, bankruptcy, and other priority obligations.

Delaware Wage Garnishment Overview

In Delaware, wage garnishment generally follows the entry of a judgment against a debtor. A judgment creditor may obtain a writ of attachment or other legal process directing an employer to withhold nonexempt wages owed to the judgment debtor.

Delaware's garnishment procedures are primarily governed by Title 10 of the Delaware Code, including the provisions addressing attachment of wages and garnishee obligations. Employers that receive a valid garnishment must comply with the court's instructions and applicable statutory exemptions.

Delaware Wage Garnishment Limits

For an ordinary judgment-creditor garnishment, Delaware generally follows the federal limitation on the amount of disposable earnings that may be withheld. The maximum amount subject to garnishment is generally the lesser of:

• 15% of the employee's disposable earnings for the applicable workweek
• The amount by which the employee's disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage

Because the federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour, the second calculation generally protects the first $217.50 of weekly disposable earnings from an ordinary consumer-debt garnishment. Employers should use the applicable federal limitation and review the specific garnishment order for any different requirement.

Disposable Earnings

Disposable earnings are generally the portion of an employee's earnings remaining after deductions required by law. Federal law generally includes deductions such as federal, state, and local taxes and Social Security and Medicare taxes when determining disposable earnings for garnishment purposes.

Voluntary deductions generally cannot be used to artificially reduce disposable earnings for purposes of determining the maximum amount that may be garnished.

Employers should calculate disposable earnings before applying the garnishment limitation rather than applying the percentage directly to gross wages.

Delaware Garnishment Process and Employer Response

When an employer is served with a writ or other garnishment process, the employer becomes the garnishee and must respond according to the instructions contained in the legal documents.

The garnishment documents generally identify the judgment debtor, the judgment creditor, the amount of the judgment, and the employer's obligations. The employer should carefully review the documents and comply with the applicable response and withholding deadlines.

Employers should therefore:

• Record the date the garnishment is received
• Review the writ and accompanying documents immediately
• Verify whether the named judgment debtor is an employee
• Determine the employee's disposable earnings for the applicable pay period
• Apply the applicable Delaware and federal garnishment exemptions and limitations
• Begin withholding nonexempt wages as required by the garnishment
• Complete and return the required garnishee response within the applicable deadline
• Remit withheld wages according to the instructions in the garnishment
• Continue withholding while the garnishment remains in effect
• Maintain records of the garnishment, calculations, withholding, payments, and related correspondence

Continuing Wage Garnishment

A wage garnishment may operate as a continuing lien against wages that become payable to the judgment debtor after the garnishment is served. Employers should therefore continue withholding from subsequent paychecks while the garnishment remains effective.

The employer should stop withholding only when the garnishment has been satisfied, released, modified, terminated, or otherwise affected by an appropriate court order or other legally effective instruction.

Garnishee Responsibilities

A Delaware employer that is served with garnishment process must determine whether it holds wages or other property belonging to the judgment debtor and must provide the required response to the court or other authorized party.

Employers should not ignore a garnishment merely because the employee disputes the underlying debt. Questions concerning the validity of the judgment or the amount owed generally must be addressed through the appropriate legal process.

Failure to properly answer or comply with a garnishment can expose the employer to liability for amounts that should have been withheld or paid.

Employee Exemptions and Objections

Delaware law provides exemptions that may protect certain property and earnings from attachment. An employee may also have the right to challenge a garnishment or assert an exemption through the court.

Employers should not independently determine whether an employee's exemption or objection is legally valid. Payroll should follow the existing garnishment unless and until the court or other authorized authority provides instructions changing the employer's withholding obligations.

Child Support and Family Support Garnishments

Child support and spousal support withholding orders are subject to special federal and Delaware requirements and generally receive priority over ordinary consumer-debt garnishments.

Federal law generally permits withholding for support obligations of up to 50% of disposable earnings when the employee is supporting a spouse or dependent child other than the person covered by the support order, or up to 60% when the employee is not supporting such a spouse or dependent child. An additional 5 percentage points may apply when the support obligation is more than 12 weeks in arrears.

Employers processing child support or other family-support withholding orders should follow the specific order and apply all applicable federal and Delaware requirements rather than automatically using the ordinary consumer-debt garnishment limitation.

Tax Garnishments

Federal and Delaware tax collection proceedings are subject to specialized rules that may differ from an ordinary judgment-creditor garnishment.

Federal tax levies generally have their own exemption and withholding calculations, while Delaware tax collection actions may be governed by separate state procedures. Employers should follow the instructions provided by the applicable taxing authority rather than automatically applying the ordinary consumer-debt garnishment formula.

Bankruptcy and Other Specialized Orders

Bankruptcy proceedings, federal tax levies, child support orders, and certain other obligations are subject to specialized federal or state rules. The ordinary wage-garnishment limitation should not automatically be applied to these obligations.

Employers should review the issuing authority's instructions and determine which federal and Delaware requirements apply before processing specialized withholding orders.

Federal Garnishment Limits

Delaware employers must comply with the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act when processing ordinary consumer-debt garnishments. Federal law generally limits the amount that may be garnished to the lesser of 15% of disposable earnings or the amount by which disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage.

Different federal limits apply to child support, certain tax obligations, bankruptcy, and other specified debts. Employers should identify the type of obligation before determining the amount that may legally be withheld.

Protection Against Discharge

Federal law generally prohibits an employer from discharging an employee because the employee's earnings have been garnished for any one indebtedness.

Employers should not retaliate against an employee because of a garnishment and should not alter the employee's normal compensation or pay schedule for the purpose of avoiding the garnishment.

Multiple Garnishments

An employee may have multiple garnishments or withholding orders at the same time. Employers should review the priority provisions applicable to each order before determining how much can be withheld.

Child support and certain other priority obligations generally take precedence over ordinary consumer-debt garnishments. Federal law also limits the total amount that may be withheld from an employee's disposable earnings during a pay period.

Payroll should maintain accurate records of each order, including the date received, type of debt, amount owed, withholding limit, and current priority status.

When to Stop Withholding

An employer should continue withholding while the garnishment remains legally effective. The employer should stop withholding when the order has been satisfied, released, terminated, or modified by the appropriate authority.

Employers should not stop withholding solely because an employee states that the underlying debt has been paid. Payroll should obtain appropriate written documentation from the court, creditor, or issuing authority before terminating the withholding.

Important Employer Compliance Point

A Delaware wage garnishment should not be treated as a simple instruction to withhold a fixed percentage of an employee's paycheck. Payroll must identify the type of obligation, calculate disposable earnings, apply the applicable Delaware and federal limitations, consider the priority of other withholding orders, respond to the garnishment within the required deadline, and remit funds according to the legal process.

For an ordinary consumer-debt garnishment, employers should generally apply the federal limitation of the lesser of 15% of disposable earnings or the amount by which disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage. Special rules can result in different withholding amounts for child support, taxes, bankruptcy, and other obligations.

Delaware Garnishment Records

Employers should maintain records of all garnishment orders, dates of service, employee notices, disposable-earnings calculations, amounts withheld, payments made, and correspondence concerning the garnishment.

Accurate records are particularly important when an employee has multiple garnishments, a support withholding order, an exemption claim, or a court proceeding affecting the employer's withholding obligations.

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