Wage garnishment in California
By Kai Greenspan, Founding Editor · Last updated: September 2, 2026
The most of a week's disposable earnings that an earnings withholding order can take in California, and only if a second figure is not lower: 40 percent of the amount by which those earnings exceed 48 times the applicable minimum hourly wage. Section 706.050 takes the lesser of the two, so pay near the minimum wage cannot be garnished at all.
Source: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov · Last checked: September 2, 2026
A judgment, then an order on your employer
Wage garnishment in California is a step in enforcing a court judgment, not something a collector can do on its own. The Wage Garnishment Law sits inside the Code of Civil Procedure’s title on the enforcement of judgments, in the division on enforcement of money judgments, and its general rule is Section 706.021: “Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, a levy of execution upon the earnings of an employee shall be made by service of an earnings withholding order upon the judgment debtor’s employer in accordance with this chapter.” The person whose wages are reached is, in the statute’s own words, the judgment debtor; the person reaching them is the judgment creditor.
So the order is the only route, it is served on the employer rather than on you, and it depends on a judgment existing. A collector that has not sued you and won has nothing to serve. Whether a judgment exists against you is a matter of court record, and the point in any garnishment story to check first.
Source: Code of Civil Procedure Section 706.021 · quoted 2 September 2026
The cap, and the minimum-wage floor under it
Section 706.050 sets the ceiling, and it is the lesser of two figures. Except as the chapter otherwise provides, the maximum amount of an individual judgment debtor’s disposable earnings for any workweek that is subject to levy under an earnings withholding order“shall not exceed the lesser of the following”:
- “Twenty percent of the individual’s disposable earnings for that week.”
- “Forty percent of the amount by which the individual’s disposable earnings for that week exceed 48 times the state minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the earnings are payable.”
The second figure is the floor. Forty-eight hours at the minimum wage is untouchable, and only 40 percent of what sits above it can be reached, which for many workers is less than 20 percent of the whole. Where a person works somewhere with a higher local minimum wage, the statute uses that: “the local minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the earnings are payable shall be used for the calculation”. For pay periods other than weekly, subdivision (b) supplies multipliers so the same protection applies, for example“For a biweekly pay period, multiply the applicable hourly minimum wage by 96 work hours.”
Source: Section 706.050 · quoted 2 September 2026
The support exemption, on top of the cap
The cap is not the end of the protection. Section 706.051(b) provides that“the portion of the judgment debtor’s earnings that the judgment debtor proves is necessary for the support of the judgment debtor or the judgment debtor’s family supported in whole or in part by the judgment debtor is exempt from levy under this chapter.” Family, for this purpose, “includes the spouse or former spouse of the judgment debtor”.
Two things about it. The burden is on the debtor: the exemption covers what the debtorproves is necessary, so it has to be claimed and supported, and how to do that is a question for a lawyer or a legal aid service. And it has four exceptions, listed in subdivision (c): it is not available where the debt was incurred under certain Family Code orders for attorney’s fees, where the debt was “incurred for personal services rendered by an employee or former employee of the judgment debtor”, where the order is a withholding order for support, or where it is a state tax order.
Source: Section 706.051 · quoted 2 September 2026
When withholding starts, and when it stops
Nothing comes out of the first pay packet after service. Section 706.022 defines the withholding period as the period which “commences on the 30th day after service of an earnings withholding order upon the judgment debtor’s employer”. If a claim of exemption is filed with the levying officer and the employer is given actual notice before the close of business on the 29th day, it starts on the 45th day instead. That gap is the time in which the support exemption above can be claimed.
The period then runs “until the earliest of the following dates”: the date the employer has withheld the full amount required to satisfy the order, the date of termination specified in a court order served on the employer, the date specified in a notice of termination served by the levying officer, or the date an order becomes dormant or is suspended. And the order cannot outlive the judgment: a judgment creditor“shall not enforce an earnings withholding order beyond the period of enforceability” of the judgment itself.
Source: Section 706.022 · quoted 2 September 2026
Wages already paid keep their protection if they can be traced
A protection that ended the moment wages were paid would be worth little, and Section 704.070 carries it forward. It covers “paid earnings”, defined as earnings “that were paid to the employee during the 30-day period ending on the date of the levy”, and it provides that paid earnings that can be traced into deposit accounts, or held as cash or its equivalent, are exempt in two amounts:
- “All of the paid earnings are exempt if prior to payment to the employee they were subject to an earnings withholding order or an earnings assignment order for support.”
- Otherwise, disposable earnings “that would otherwise not be subject to levy under Section 706.050” are exempt: the part the cap protected in the pay packet stays protected in the account.
Source: Section 704.070 · quoted 2 September 2026
Common questions about garnishment in California
Can a debt collector garnish my wages in California?
Only by an earnings withholding order, which is a way of enforcing a money judgment. Code of Civil Procedure Section 706.021 says that "a levy of execution upon the earnings of an employee shall be made by service of an earnings withholding order upon the judgment debtor’s employer in accordance with this chapter", and the chapter sits inside the title on enforcement of judgments. A collector with no judgment against you has no order to serve.
How much of my pay can be taken in California?
At most the lesser of two figures. Section 706.050 caps the amount for any workweek at the lesser of "Twenty percent of the individual’s disposable earnings for that week" or "Forty percent of the amount by which the individual’s disposable earnings for that week exceed 48 times the state minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the earnings are payable", using the local minimum wage instead where it is higher. Because of the second figure, earnings close to the minimum wage cannot be garnished at all.
What if I need my pay to support my family?
Section 706.051 exempts "the portion of the judgment debtor’s earnings that the judgment debtor proves is necessary for the support of the judgment debtor or the judgment debtor’s family supported in whole or in part by the judgment debtor". The burden is on you to prove it, and the exemption is not available for four kinds of debt the section lists, including support orders and certain state tax orders. How to claim it, and whether it applies to you, are questions for a lawyer or legal aid.
When does the money actually start coming out of my pay?
Not immediately. Section 706.022 says the withholding period "commences on the 30th day after service of an earnings withholding order upon the judgment debtor’s employer", or on the 45th day if a claim of exemption is filed with the levying officer and the employer is given notice before the close of business on the 29th day. It continues until the full amount is withheld, until a court order or a notice from the levying officer ends it, or until the order becomes dormant or is suspended.
Is my pay still protected once it is in my bank account?
Partly, if it can be traced. Section 704.070 covers "paid earnings", meaning earnings paid to the employee during the 30-day period ending on the date of the levy. Where they can be traced into a deposit account, all of them are exempt if they were already subject to an earnings withholding order or a support assignment before they were paid, and otherwise the part that could not have been taken under Section 706.050 stays exempt.
A collector has threatened to garnish my wages. Is that allowed?
A collector may tell you it intends to obtain a judgment and enforce it, but wages can be reached only through an earnings withholding order served on your employer under a money judgment, so a threat to garnish without a judgment describes something the collector cannot yet do. Civil Code Section 1788.17 makes the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act apply to California collectors of consumer debt. Whether a particular threat was lawful is a question for a lawyer.
This page is information about published law, not legal advice, and it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. What is necessary for a family’s support, and whether any exemption applies to a particular debt or judgment, depends on facts this page cannot know. Every quotation above was taken from the linked source on the date shown; if you find an error, our corrections policy explains how to tell us.
Related pages
California debt collection laws
The license rule and its history, who is exempt, the number on every letter, and the four-year rule, quoted from the statutes.
Is a debt collector legitimate? California
The public-record checks, the license number on every letter, and why a legitimate collector can be absent from the state's list.
Wage garnishment in Texas
Why a garnishment threat over consumer debt is itself a red flag in Texas.
Income execution in New York
How New York does it: judgment first, capped, floored, employer served last.
Wage garnishment in Florida
A judgment first, then the head of family exemption that protects all earnings up to $750 a week.
California agencies, ranked
Verified California agencies grouped by years continuously licensed.