Question 1

How does a judgment creditor get a garnishment writ issued in Alaska, and what does the court charge?

Accepted Answer

File an Information for Issuance of Writ of Execution on Garnishment of Earnings, form CIV-507, with the district or superior court that entered the judgment, stating the judgment amount and date, anything the debtor has paid you directly since judgment, and your post-judgment costs. Send form CIV-526 along with it so the clerk can issue the employer's response packet. Administrative Rule 9(e)(10) sets the fee at $25 for issuing a writ of execution, and Administrative Rule 11(a)(9) restates the same $25 in the service-fee schedule as recoverable from the debtor. CIV-507 warns that the writ fee is charged for each writ and each debtor, so a separate request goes in per debtor. For non-wage property you file CIV-501 instead, where a single writ fee covers however many debtors the general writ names.

Question 2

How much of a paycheck can an Alaska garnishment writ actually take?

Accepted Answer

Work from the employer's own arithmetic on form CIV-526, paragraph 6. The employee keeps a weekly exemption of either $473 under Alaska law or 75 percent of weekly net earnings under federal law, whichever is more, so what you collect is the smaller of two figures: weekly net earnings minus $473, or 25 percent of weekly net earnings. Then paragraph 6d subtracts anything another garnishment is already taking. Net earnings means weekly gross less every sum required by law or court order to be withheld, with monthly gross divided by 4.3 and semi-monthly by 2.17 to convert. Do not quote the 25 percent figure as a state entitlement: the only percentage in the whole calculation comes from federal law, and Alaska's own contribution is the flat dollar floor.

Question 3

Is the Alaska exemption stricter than the federal garnishment limit?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and the court system says so on the form rather than leaving it to inference. CIV-526 footnote 3 explains that the federal 30 times minimum wage calculation is left off the form because the Alaska weekly exemption is larger than it, which at the $7.25 federal minimum the footnote cites means Alaska's $473 is more than double the federal floor. The practical consequence for a creditor is that on ordinary Alaska paychecks it is the dollar exemption, not the federal percentage, that sets what you get. One reversal is worth knowing: Section 09.38.030(d) provides that if the judgment debtor is a nonresident, the limitations under 15 U.S.C. 1673 apply instead, and CIV-530 restates that substitution for nonresidents.

Question 4

What happens if an Alaska employer ignores the writ or files nothing?

Accepted Answer

Its exposure widens rather than narrows. Civil Rule 89(l)(5), reaching execution through Section 09.35.110, allows judgment against the garnishee for the value in money of the debtor's property it held beyond what it admitted in its statement, or in any amount if a statement is not furnished at all. Section 09.40.040 makes a third party holding the debtor's property or owing the debtor a debt liable to the plaintiff for that amount until the judgment is satisfied. Rule 89(l)(2) lets the court compel a garnishee that fails to appear, Rule 89(l)(6) allows a restraining order whose disobedience is punishable as contempt, and Rule 89(l)(7) lets execution issue on a judgment against a garnishee like any other. A garnishee can still escape by paying or delivering the property over before judgment.

Question 5

Does one Alaska writ keep capturing future paychecks, or does it have to be re-served?

Accepted Answer

One writ runs. Section 09.38.035(a) makes the balance due a lien on earnings due at the time of service to the extent they are not exempt, and that lien continues against later nonexempt earnings until the total reaches the amount stated on the writ. It ends sooner if the employment relationship terminates, if the judgment is vacated, modified or satisfied in full, or if the writ is dismissed. Subsection (b) requires the garnishee to pay all nonexempt earnings into court, and routes interest accruing afterwards to a supplemental writ issued once the principal on the original writ has been paid. Two outer limits: Rule 69(e)(1) allows only one general writ and one earnings writ outstanding at a time, and Section 09.35.020 blocks a new writ after five years with none issued unless the court finds just and sufficient reasons.

Question 6

If another creditor already has a lien on the wages, can an Alaska employer pay on my writ too?

Accepted Answer

Not yet, but your writ is parked rather than thrown out. Section 09.38.040 gives the earlier lien priority over any subsequent garnishment lien or wage assignment, and requires the employer served with the later writ to answer that it is holding no funds and to state when all previous liens are expected to terminate. Your writ then has effect from the termination of all prior liens. CIV-526 paragraph 8 puts the same mechanic in the employer's hands and tells it to begin paying on your writ the moment the prior one is satisfied or otherwise ends. The one dead end is a repeat filing in the same matter: a subsequent writ is not effective if a writ in the same cause of action is pending when garnishment is served.

Question 7

Which deadlines does an Alaska creditor itself have to hit after the levy?

Accepted Answer

Two, and missing the second one hands the money back. Section 09.38.080(b) requires you to file with the issuing court, before, at the time of, or within three days after levy, an affidavit stating you have reason to believe the debtor has property that is not exempt, identifying it and giving the basis for that belief; subsection (c) requires you to serve the debtor a notice including a copy of that affidavit. Then Rule 69(g)(5) gives you 30 days after the court receives seized money to file proof of service of that notice, or to request release of funds on an affidavit of diligent inquiry using form CIV-547. Do neither and the court may release every dollar back to the debtor without further order or notice to you. Expect a short hold while any objection to the levy filed within 15 days is decided.

Question 8

Can an Alaska writ reach a Permanent Fund Dividend or a bank account instead of wages?

Accepted Answer

Both, and the dividend is the better target. Section 43.23.140(a) exempts only 20 percent of the annual Permanent Fund Dividend and states that no other exemption applies to a dividend, so roughly four fifths of it is reachable for ordinary judgment debt. A writ on an undelivered dividend may be served on the commissioner by certified mail or by a licensed civilian process server using electronic execution, Rule 69(f)(1) even lets the clerk serve it by certified mail, and Rule 69(e)(1)(A) allows an extra writ while another is outstanding when one of them is aimed at the dividend, though only one writ may be levied against a dividend per debt and nothing is accepted before April 1. For other property, Section 09.35.070 makes all non-exempt goods, chattels, money or other property liable to execution, and a bank is a garnishee on the same 24-hour statement duty.

Alaska Writ of Garnishment

Find out where you stand in Alaska

Introduction

Key Things to Know

Key decisions before you file

Customize your Writ of Garnishment Template with DocDraft

Alaska Requirements for Writ of Garnishment

Request on CIV-507, One Debtor per Writ

The Issuing Court and the $25 Writ Fee

Employer Answers on CIV-526 Within 24 Hours

Ceiling: $473 a Week, Not a State Percentage

Total Amount Due and the Five Year Gap

Three Day Affidavit, Thirty Day Proof of Service

First Lien Runs, a Later Writ Waits in Line

Garnishee Judgment in Any Amount if Silent

Frequently Asked Questions