Wage garnishment in Texas
By Kai Greenspan, Founding Editor
Every quotation on this page matches the official text word for word, as last downloaded on October 1, 2026.
This page is educational information, quoted from public sources with dates. It is not legal advice; whether a specific garnishment or exemption applies to you depends on the facts, and a consumer attorney or legal aid service is the right place for advice.
What does Texas law actually say?
Two texts, one rule. The Texas Constitution, Article 16, Section 28 (adopted 1876, amended 1983 and 1999): "No current wages for personal service shall ever be subject to garnishment, except for the enforcement of court-ordered: (1) child support payments; or (2) spousal maintenance." And the statute, Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 63.004: "Except as otherwise provided by state or federal law, current wages for personal service are not subject to garnishment. The garnishee shall be discharged from the garnishment as to any debt to the defendant for current wages." Note what the words protect: current wages for personal service, the pay your employer holds before it reaches you.
Texas Constitution, Article 16, Section 28 and Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 63.004, checked July 12, 2026.
What is garnishment?
Garnishment is a court-ordered redirection of money before it reaches you: a wage garnishment order goes to your employer, who must deduct from your pay and remit to the creditor; an account garnishment goes to your bank. As the CFPB puts it, "most creditors can only garnish wages or benefits after a court issues a judgment saying that you owe the debt", and a garnishment order "generally allows a creditor to garnish the amount in the judgment, as well as additional interest, fees, or costs of collection". In Texas, the writ of garnishment exists in Chapter 63, tied to a suit or "a valid, subsisting judgment", but for consumer-debt wages the constitutional exemption above stands in front of it.
CFPB: Can a debt collector take or garnish my wages or benefits? (last reviewed by the CFPB August 2, 2023) and Chapter 63, checked July 12, 2026.
Bank accounts and protected benefits
The wage protection covers wages your employer has not yet paid. Money sitting in a bank account is a separate legal question, and after a judgment a creditor can seek account garnishment. Two protections matter there. Federal benefits: the CFPB explains that banks "must review your account and protect two months' worth of direct-deposited benefits before freezing or garnishing any money in the account", covering Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, veterans' benefits, federal railroad payments, and Civil Service and FERS retirement payments. State exemptions: Texas law protects certain property and funds from creditors; which exemptions apply to a specific account is exactly the kind of question for a lawyer or legal aid, and the CFPB points to LawHelp.org for claiming exemptions.
CFPB garnishment guidance, checked July 12, 2026.
The real exceptions
Three families of debt sit outside the ordinary protection. First, the constitution's own exceptions: court-ordered child support and spousal maintenance. Second, government debts: the CFPB notes that "federal and state agencies can sometimes garnish your paycheck, benefits, or money in a bank account without a court order", naming the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Education as examples, and that federal agencies can take "up to 15 percent" of Social Security benefits for debts owed to them. Third, as Section 63.004's own opening words allow, other state or federal law can provide differently. What is NOT on this list is ordinary consumer debt: credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, the debts collection agencies typically pursue.
One case reaches Texas residents from outside the state. If a court in another state has already ordered your wages garnished, through an employer that court can reach, the order does not stop when you move to Texas. Texas must give another state's valid judgment full faith and credit, and a federal court applied that in 2016 to a Ford Motor Credit garnishment that kept running after the debtor moved from Tennessee to Texas. What Texas protects is its own courts: they will not issue a wage garnishment for consumer debt.
Molinari v. Stone & Hinds, P.C., No. 3:16-cv-133 (E.D. Tenn. Nov. 22, 2016), read October 2, 2026.
CFPB garnishment guidance and Article 16, Section 28, checked July 12, 2026.
When the threat itself is the red flag
Because a Texas court will not garnish wages for consumer debt, a threat to garnish them is a claim the collector has to be able to back. Federal rules let a collector warn of garnishment only when that action is lawful and the collector or creditor actually intends to take it (Regulation F, 12 CFR 1006.18(b)(3)), so the lawful version of the warning exists only where another state's court can reach your employer and the collector means to go there. A threat that cannot meet that test is either misinformed or misrepresenting, and both matter. Texas Finance Code Chapter 392 prohibits threats or coercion and fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading representations in debt collection (quoted in full on our Texas debt law page), and threat-heavy behavior features in the CFPB's warning signs of a debt collection scam. Before engaging with anyone who threatens you, run the checks in our guide to verifying a debt collector: the bond register, the complaint record, and the enforcement record are all public.
Regulation F, 12 CFR 1006.18(b)(3), read October 5, 2026.
Common questions about garnishment in Texas
Can a debt collector garnish my wages in Texas?
Not for ordinary consumer debt. The Texas Constitution (Article 16, Section 28) states: "No current wages for personal service shall ever be subject to garnishment, except for the enforcement of court-ordered: (1) child support payments; or (2) spousal maintenance." Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 63.004 repeats the exemption in statute. A Texas court will not order a paycheck garnished for consumer debt, even after the creditor wins a lawsuit. The exception is an order from another state’s court: a garnishment that court issued to an employer it can reach may keep taking wages after the debtor moves to Texas, because Texas gives that order full faith and credit (Molinari v. Stone & Hinds, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, 2016). Separate federal rules apply to debts owed to government agencies, covered below.
Can a debt collector garnish my bank account in Texas?
A bank account is a different question from wages. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 63, a creditor with "a valid, subsisting judgment" can seek a writ of garnishment, and the CFPB's guidance addresses accounts directly: state and federal laws "limit how much a creditor can garnish from an account where your benefits are deposited, or protect a minimum amount in your bank account". Banks must protect two months' worth of directly deposited federal benefits (Social Security, SSI, veterans' benefits and others) before freezing or garnishing an account, and state exemptions may protect more. The wage protection itself covers "current wages for personal service", the pay your employer has not yet handed over.
A debt collector threatened to garnish my wages. Is that allowed?
For ordinary consumer debt, a Texas court will not order wage garnishment, so unless the collector already holds a garnishment order from another state’s court, the threat itself is a red flag twice over. Texas Finance Code Chapter 392 prohibits threats and coercion and fraudulent or misleading representations in debt collection, and the CFPB lists threat-heavy behavior among the warning signs of a debt collection scam. Our guide to checking whether a collector is legitimate covers what to verify before engaging with anyone who threatens you.
What debts CAN reach wages in Texas?
The Texas Constitution's own exceptions are court-ordered child support payments and spousal maintenance. Beyond those, the CFPB notes that "federal and state agencies can sometimes garnish your paycheck, benefits, or money in a bank account without a court order", giving the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Education as examples, and that states can generally garnish for child support. So taxes, federal student loans in default, and family support obligations sit outside the ordinary consumer-debt protection.
Does a collector need a court judgment before garnishing anything?
Generally yes. The CFPB states that "most creditors can only garnish wages or benefits after a court issues a judgment saying that you owe the debt", and in Texas the writ of garnishment under Chapter 63 is tied to a suit or "a valid, subsisting judgment". The government-agency exceptions above are the main departure. This is one reason the CFPB advises never to ignore a debt collection lawsuit: not appearing can produce a default judgment, and a judgment is what unlocks account garnishment.
Are Social Security and veterans’ benefits protected from garnishment?
Yes, with a specific mechanism. The CFPB explains that banks "must review your account and protect two months' worth of direct-deposited benefits before freezing or garnishing any money in the account". The federal benefits covered generally include Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, veterans' benefits, federal railroad retirement payments, and Civil Service and FERS retirement payments. The CFPB also notes federal agencies like the IRS can take up to 15 percent of Social Security benefits for debts owed to them.
Related pages
Income execution in New York
The opposite answer: New York allows consumer wage garnishment, capped, floored and served in two stages.
Wage garnishment in Florida
The head of family exemption that protects all earnings up to $750 a week.
Wage garnishment in California
An order under a money judgment, capped at 20 percent with a minimum-wage floor, and a support exemption on top.
Wage garnishment in Illinois
A wage deduction order under a judgment, capped at the lesser of 15 percent of gross wages or the amount above 45 times the minimum wage.
Texas debt collection laws
The bond rule, prohibited practices, fees and the four-year rule, quoted from the statutes.
Is this debt collector legitimate?
The three checks against public records, step by step.
Texas rules and rankings
The $10,000 bond rule and the register-checked Texas agencies.