Ohio garnishment laws let a creditor with a court judgment collect directly from your paycheck, bank account, or other property, but the same laws cap how much can be taken, shield several kinds of income entirely, and give you a short window to push back. For ordinary debts like credit cards and medical bills, the ceiling is 25% of your disposable earnings per pay period. For child support, taxes, and defaulted federal student loans, different rules apply, and some of those creditors can skip the courtroom altogether.
How Much a Creditor Can Take From Your Paycheck
For ordinary debts, Ohio follows the federal cap. Each week, a creditor can take the lesser of two amounts: 25% of your disposable earnings, or the amount by which your disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment Disposable earnings are what remain after mandatory deductions such as federal and state taxes, Social Security, and Medicare.
The federal minimum wage sits at $7.25 per hour, so the 30-times threshold works out to $217.50 per week. If your weekly disposable pay is $217.50 or less, ordinary creditors cannot touch your wages at all. Between $217.50 and roughly $290, only the amount above $217.50 can be taken. Above $290, the 25% cap produces the smaller number and controls. For workers on other schedules the multiples adjust: 60 times the minimum wage ($435) for biweekly pay, 65 times ($471.25) for semimonthly, and 130 times ($942.50) for monthly.
A garnishment order in Ohio is continuous. Your employer keeps withholding each pay period until the debt is paid off, the court ends the order, or another event terminates it.
Child Support, Student Loans, and Taxes
Child support orders reach much deeper into a paycheck. The percentage depends on whether you support another spouse or child and whether you are behind:
- 50% if you support a second family and are current or less than 12 weeks overdue
- 55% if you support a second family and are more than 12 weeks overdue
- 60% if you do not support a second family and are current or less than 12 weeks overdue
- 65% if you do not support a second family and are more than 12 weeks overdue
Child support withholding also takes priority over every other garnishment except an IRS tax levy that predates the support order.2Administration for Children and Families. Processing an Income Withholding Order or Notice
Some debts skip the lawsuit-and-judgment step entirely. Child support, defaulted federal student loans, and unpaid taxes can all reach your wages through administrative orders without a court judgment.3U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #30: Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act Defaulted federal student loans are capped at 15% of disposable earnings. IRS levies follow their own formula tied to filing status and dependents, and often take more than an ordinary creditor could.
Bank Accounts and Other Non-Wage Property
Money in a bank account is exposed differently than wages. After winning a judgment, a creditor can file an affidavit identifying the bank and account, and the court issues a garnishment order to the institution. Wage garnishment nibbles at each paycheck; a bank garnishment can freeze and seize the full amount owed in a single strike.
Once the bank receives the order, it must freeze the specified funds and notify you. You then have five business days from receiving that notice to file a written request for a hearing with the court.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2716.13 – Garnishment of Property Other Than Personal Earnings Miss the window and the bank turns the money over. If you request a hearing, the court’s review is limited to how much of the frozen funds can legally satisfy the judgment, not whether the judgment itself was correct.
The same non-wage process can reach rental payments, commissions, annuities, and royalties. Ohio tax refunds can be offset for child support arrears and unpaid state taxes.5Legal Information Institute. Ohio Admin Code 5703-7-13 – State Income Tax Refund Offsets
Income and Property Ohio Protects
Ohio and federal law shield several income sources from ordinary creditors:
- Workers’ compensation benefits
- Unemployment compensation
- Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Veterans’ benefits
- Black lung benefits
- Disability assistance administered by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
- Cash assistance under Ohio Works First
- Certain pension payments
These exemptions appear in the notice debtors receive under Ohio’s non-wage garnishment statute.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2716.13 – Garnishment of Property Other Than Personal Earnings
Exemptions have limits worth understanding. Ordinary creditors cannot garnish Social Security, but the federal government can. Benefits can be withheld to pay child support or alimony, the IRS can levy up to 15% of each payment for overdue federal taxes, and the Treasury can withhold benefits for other delinquent federal debts.6Social Security Administration. Can My Social Security Benefits Be Garnished or Levied? If exempt funds land in a bank account that gets garnished, you have to move fast during the five-day hearing window to prove those dollars are protected.
Ohio Property Exemptions
Ohio also protects a slice of your property from seizure. The current amounts took effect April 1, 2025, and hold through March 31, 2028:7U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Ohio. April 1, 2025, Ohio Exemption Increases
- Homestead (personal residence): up to $182,625 in equity
- One motor vehicle: up to $5,025
- Household items: up to $800 per item, $16,850 total
- Jewelry: up to $2,125
- Professional tools or books: up to $3,200
- Cash on hand: up to $625
- Wildcard (any property): up to $1,675
- Bodily injury awards: up to $31,650
These limits apply per debtor. Anything above the exemption is exposed. To actually claim an exemption you have to file a written request for a hearing within five business days of receiving notice and be ready to show that the income or property qualifies.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2716.13 – Garnishment of Property Other Than Personal Earnings
Steps a Creditor Must Take First
Wage garnishment doesn’t arrive without warning. For ordinary debts the creditor first has to sue you and win a judgment. Then, before filing for wage garnishment, the creditor must send a written demand letter at least 15 days and no more than 45 days ahead of the filing.8Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2716.02 – Form for Notice of Court Proceeding to Collect Debt The letter must state the amount owed, warn that wages could be garnished, and offer you three options: pay in full, arrange a partial payment plan, or apply for a court-appointed trustee to manage payments to your creditors.
If you ignore the letter or reach no agreement, the creditor files an affidavit certifying the judgment, the debt, and the unanswered demand.9Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2716.03 – Commencing Proceeding for Garnishment of Personal Earnings The court then issues the order to your employer.
For non-wage garnishment the creditor files a separate affidavit identifying the specific account or asset, and you receive notice of the proceeding along with a request-for-hearing form.
How to Fight a Garnishment
You can contest a garnishment, but the clock is tight. For both wage and non-wage garnishments you have to deliver a written request for a hearing to the clerk of the court no later than five business days after receiving the notice.10Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2716.06 – Form for Notice to Judgment Debtor If you file in time, the court must hold the hearing within 12 days.
Common grounds include:
- Exempt income. The garnished funds are Social Security, veterans’ benefits, unemployment, or another protected source.
- Calculation errors. The employer or bank withheld more than the law allows.
- Procedural defects. The creditor skipped a required step, such as the 15-day demand letter.
- Mistaken identity. You are not the person who owes the debt.
One boundary matters here. The hearing cannot revisit the underlying judgment. It is limited to whether the garnishment amount and procedure are correct. Attacking the judgment itself takes a separate legal challenge.
Direct negotiation is often worth trying. Many creditors prefer a voluntary payment plan to the administrative work of garnishment, and courts sometimes reduce the amount when a debtor shows genuine hardship. Nothing in the statute guarantees a reduction just because money is tight.
Federal law also bars your employer from firing you because your wages are being garnished for any single debt.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment That protection covers one garnishment only. A second or third from a different creditor is not shielded.
When Multiple Garnishments Stack
If more than one creditor comes after your wages, Ohio stacks the orders. Child support and IRS tax levies automatically take priority over ordinary creditor garnishments.11Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2716 – Garnishment When a new ordinary garnishment arrives while another is still being processed, the earlier order generally continues for up to 182 days from the date the employer began processing it. The new order takes over after that.
The total taken from your paycheck still cannot exceed the maximum. Two creditors don’t mean two 25% bites. The cap applies to the total, so stacking mainly stretches out how long withholding continues for each creditor.
How Long a Judgment Can Be Enforced
A judgment goes dormant if the creditor doesn’t issue an execution (such as a garnishment order or lien certificate) within five years of the judgment or of the last execution, whichever is later.12Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2329.07 – Dormant Judgments A dormant judgment loses its power as a lien on your property.
Dormancy is not the end. The creditor can revive the judgment within 10 years after it goes dormant.13Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2325 – Revival of Dormant Judgment A creditor who keeps up with the paperwork can enforce a judgment for 15 years or more. Interest stops accruing while dormant, then the debt is enforceable again once revived. Judgments in favor of the state get longer: they don’t go dormant for 10 years, and the renewal window runs 15 years.
Stopping Garnishment Through Bankruptcy
Filing bankruptcy triggers an automatic stay that immediately halts most collection actions, including active wage garnishments, bank levies, and lawsuits.14Legal Information Institute. Automatic Stay The stay takes effect the moment the petition is filed, without a separate court order.
Whether bankruptcy eliminates the underlying debt depends on the type. Credit card balances, medical bills, and most personal loans can typically be discharged, which ends the garnishment for good. Some debts survive, and the garnishment can resume once the case closes:
- Child support and alimony cannot be discharged in any chapter of bankruptcy.
- Most tax debts survive, though some older tax obligations may qualify for discharge.
- Student loans are generally not dischargeable without proving undue hardship, which is a high bar.
- Criminal restitution orders cannot be eliminated through bankruptcy.
A Chapter 7 bankruptcy stays on your credit report for up to 10 years, and the underlying civil judgment can appear for seven years from the date it was entered.15Federal Trade Commission. Fair Credit Reporting Act Bankruptcy can be the right move when garnishment makes it impossible to cover basic expenses, but the credit consequences last for years.