Waukesha County

Garnishments

Collecting a Money Judgment

A garnishment is a way for an individual (creditor) to collect money (awarded by court order) from another person (debtor). The money gets collected from a third party (garnishee) that owes or will be making payments to the individual who owes the money (debtor). They are typically filed in the county where the original judgment was entered or in any county in which you have filed a transcript of the original judgment. There are two types of Garnishment:

Earnings Garnishment:

Money awarded in judgments of less than $10,000 is taken from the debtor's earnings, most commonly a paycheck, including compensation for personal services, including wages, salary, commission, bonuses, and periodic payments from a pension or retirement program.

Information on how to file an Earnings Garnishment to recover judgments $10,000 or more are not available at this time. Please see the Legal Assistance page to get help from an attorney with this type of matter.

Non-Earnings Garnishment:

Money is taken from the debtor's bank account or other source.