Writ of Garnishment in Washington State: Wages, Banks, Exemptions

A writ of garnishment in Washington State is a court order that directs a third party holding your money, usually your employer or your bank, to withhold funds and send them to a creditor who has won a judgment against you. You never hand the money over yourself. The rules governing how much can be taken, what’s protected, and how you fight back live in Chapter 6.27 of the Revised Code of Washington.

A Judgment Has to Come First

No one can garnish you in Washington without first suing you and winning. The judgment is the legal foundation; the writ is just the collection tool that follows. Once a creditor has that judgment, they can apply to the same court for a writ at any time.¹

A Washington judgment stays enforceable for ten years from the date it’s entered, and the creditor can renew it once for another ten years by applying within 90 days before it expires. Beyond 20 years total, no judgment can be enforced.² That window matters because a dormant judgment can wake up years later as a garnishment on a paycheck or bank account you didn’t know was at risk.

What a Wage Garnishment Takes From Your Paycheck

The amount a creditor can pull from your wages is capped by RCW 6.27.150. Each week, the law protects whichever is greater of two amounts:

35 times the federal minimum wage, which at $7.25 per hour works out to $253.75 per week. Disposable earnings at or below that number cannot be garnished at all.
75% of your disposable earnings, meaning your take-home pay after mandatory deductions for taxes, Social Security, and Medicare.

What the creditor actually gets each week is the lesser of 25% of your disposable earnings or whatever amount exceeds $253.75.³ Washington’s state minimum wage is $17.13 per hour as of 2026, so a full-time minimum-wage worker takes home roughly $685 per week before deductions, well above the floor. For most Washington workers, the 25% cap does the actual limiting.

A wage garnishment, once served on your employer, continues for up to 60 days.³ If the debt isn’t paid off in that period, the creditor can issue another writ.

Child Support and Tax Debt Follow Different Caps

These wage limits do not apply to child support, alimony, or tax debt. Federal law allows up to 50% of your disposable earnings to be withheld for support if you’re supporting another spouse or child, and up to 60% if you aren’t. Add 5% more when payments are over 12 weeks behind, raising the ceiling to 55% or 65%.⁴ Federal and state tax debts fall outside the usual garnishment caps as well.

One protection does cover everyone: federal law prohibits an employer from firing you because of a garnishment arising from a single debt, regardless of how many separate orders that debt generates.⁴

What a Bank Garnishment Freezes

When a writ reaches your bank instead of your employer, the bank freezes funds in the account the moment it’s served. Washington then provides an automatic protected balance that depends on the type of debt:

For most debts, $500 is protected automatically.
For consumer debt, $2,000 is protected automatically.
For private student loan debt, $1,000 is protected automatically, and you can claim up to $2,500 through an exemption.

These amounts apply per person, not per account. Multiple accounts don’t multiply the protection.⁵

Federal Benefits in Your Account

If Social Security, veterans’ benefits, federal retirement, or similar federal deposits land in your account, a separate rule protects them. Under 31 CFR Part 212, a bank receiving a garnishment order must look back two months at the account and automatically protect any amount traceable to federal benefit deposits during that window.⁶ The bank handles that review on its own. You don’t have to file anything to trigger it.

Income and Assets That Are Off-Limits

Several categories of income and property are protected from garnishment altogether, not just capped.

Public Benefits

Private creditors can’t reach government assistance. Under RCW 74.04.280, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Supplemental Security Income, and other public assistance funds are exempt from garnishment and other legal process.⁷ Social Security and unemployment compensation carry the same protection under federal law. The exemption follows the money into a bank account as long as the funds remain identifiable as benefit income. Child support obligations, certain tax debts, and federal student loans are exceptions where some benefit income can still be reached.

Retirement Accounts

Retirement savings in Washington get broad protection. RCW 6.15.020 exempts employer-sponsored plans, 401(k)s, pensions, traditional and Roth IRAs, 403(b)s, health savings accounts, and Keogh plans with no dollar cap, as long as the funds stay in the account.⁸ Child support collection is the main exception. Once you withdraw retirement money and move it into a regular bank account, it loses that protected status and falls under the standard bank account rules.

Claiming an Exemption

The creditor is required to send you an exemption claim form with the garnishment notice. There’s one version for bank account garnishments and another for wage garnishments. Automatic protections, like the bank account minimums and the federal benefit look-back, apply without any action on your part. Anything beyond those automatic amounts requires you to file.

Your deadline turns on when the papers reach you. If you receive them within seven days of the date on the writ, you have 28 days from the writ date to file. If they arrive more than seven days after the writ date, you have 21 days from when you got them. Filing means delivering one copy to the court clerk and one to the creditor or the creditor’s attorney.

Once you file, the creditor has seven days to object. If they don’t, they must direct the garnishee to release your exempt property within ten days. If they do object, they file a written explanation and schedule a hearing within 14 days. These deadlines are strict. Most garnishment disputes are won or lost on timing, and funds released to the creditor are difficult to recover.

Interest Keeps Running on the Judgment

A garnishment collects more than the original judgment amount, because post-judgment interest accrues from the day the judgment is entered. The rate depends on the type of debt:

Consumer debt: 9% per year.
Child support arrears: 12% per year.
Private student loan debt: two percentage points above the prime rate published by the Federal Reserve.
Tort judgments against private parties: two percentage points above the prime rate.
Written contracts specifying an interest rate: the rate stated in the contract, if included in the judgment.

These add up quickly. A $10,000 consumer judgment at 9% grows by $900 a year before any payment is applied. The affidavit supporting the writ has to include the interest calculation, and the amount on the writ reflects principal plus accrued interest.⁹

Federal Student Loans Work Differently

Some federal debts, defaulted federal student loans most commonly, can be garnished from your wages without any court judgment at all. The federal agency or its collection contractor notifies your employer directly, and up to 15% of your disposable pay is withheld. A federal student loan enters default after 270 days of nonpayment.

You have the right to request a hearing before the garnishment starts, but the request must be postmarked or received within 30 days of the garnishment notice.¹⁰ Miss that window and the garnishment proceeds. This federal track runs independently of Washington’s state garnishment process. You can face a state wage garnishment and a federal administrative garnishment at the same time, though total withholding across all garnishments remains subject to the Consumer Credit Protection Act caps.

If you believe a garnishment is unlawful or reaches money the law protects, you can request a court hearing to challenge it. Creditors who try to garnish exempt funds or misuse the process can see the garnishment dismissed and face liability for wrongful collection.

1
Washington State Legislature. Revised Code of Washington 6.27.070 – Issuance of Writ, Form, Dating, Attestation
2
Washington State Legislature. Chapter 6.17 RCW – Executions
3
Washington State Legislature. Chapter 6.27 RCW – Garnishment
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30 – Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act
5
Washington State Legislature. RCW 6.15.010 – Exempt Property
6
eCFR. Part 212 – Garnishment of Accounts Containing Federal Benefit Payments
7
Washington State Legislature. RCW 74.04 – General Provisions, Administration
8
Washington State Legislature. RCW 6.15.020 – Pension Money Exempt, Exceptions
9
Washington State Legislature. RCW 4.56.110 – Interest on Judgments
10
eCFR. 34 CFR 34.11 – Timely Request for a Hearing