Connecticut Writ of Garnishment

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Once served, a Connecticut wage execution binds the employer rather than the court: after a statutory twenty-day pause it becomes a lien and continuing levy on a fixed share of the judgment debtor's earnings, and the employer pays that share over to the levying officer until the judgment is satisfied. It is the paper Connecticut issues in place of a writ of garnishment, and the statute calls it an execution on wages after judgment (Section 52-361a).

2. 2

   A judgment is not enough on its own. Section 52-361a(a) conditions the wage execution on the judgment debtor's failure to comply with an installment payment order, and Section 52-356d(c) requires the court to issue an order for nominal installment payments ex parte and without a hearing on the creditor's motion, so that order is step one and the default on it is step two.

3. 3

   The clerk issues it and no judge signs. On the application the clerk of the Superior Court checks the file, signs the original execution and directs it to a levying officer (Section 52-361a(b)). The prescribed statewide form is JD-CV-3, Wage Execution Proceedings, Application, Order, Execution, revision 10-25, filed together with claim form JD-CV-3a.

4. 4

   The cap has two prongs and the second one usually bites first. Section 52-361a(f) limits the levy to the lesser of 25 per cent of disposable earnings for the week, or the amount by which those earnings exceed forty times the higher of the federal minimum hourly wage or the full Connecticut minimum fair wage under Section 31-58(i). With the Connecticut rate at $16.94 an hour since January 1, 2026, that second prong walls off the first $677.60 of weekly disposable earnings.

5. 5

   Deduct nothing for twenty days. Section 52-361a(d) stays the execution for twenty days from service on the employer, which must forthwith deliver or mail a copy of the papers to the judgment debtor; if the debtor files a claim within those twenty days the stay continues until the court decides it. Connecticut prescribes no employer answer form at all, and the thirty-day return deadline belongs to the levying officer, measured from satisfaction of the execution.

6. 6

   Strictly one creditor at a time. Only one execution issued under Section 52-361a may be satisfied at once, and priority among them is set by the order in which the employer is served, so a later execution waits rather than sharing. Support is the exception and outranks all of them: family support income withholding issues on form JD-FM-1 under Section 52-362 and is paid before a 52-361a execution.

7. 7

   Wages are only one of three targets, and each application costs $105. A property execution under Section 52-356a on form JD-CV-5 reaches nonexempt personal property other than earnings and bank debts, and a financial institution execution under Section 52-367b on form JD-CV-24 reaches a deposit account, with the institution required to respond to the serving officer within seven business days.

Connecticut Requirements for Writ of Garnishment

• Installment Payment Order Default First

  Section 52-361a(a) makes a wage execution available only where the judgment debtor has failed to comply with an installment payment order. Section 52-356d(c) requires the court to issue an order for nominal installment payments ex parte and without a hearing on the creditor's motion, so that order and the default on it are the gateway.

• Form JD-CV-3, Issued by the Clerk for $105

  The prescribed statewide paper is JD-CV-3, Wage Execution Proceedings, Application, Order, Execution, revision 10-25, filed with claim form JD-CV-3a. A clerk of the Superior Court checks the file and signs the original execution under Section 52-361a(b). The published Court Fees schedule prints $105 for the application.

• Directed to a Levying Officer, Not the Employer

  The execution issues to a levying officer, typically a state marshal, who serves the employer and collects. The Judicial Branch charges the creditor no fee for the attempt because Section 52-261(a)(F) pays the officer fifteen per cent of the amount of the execution when the money is actually collected, with a minimum fee of fifty dollars, plus service and mileage.

• Ceiling: 25 Per Cent, or the Excess Over 40x

  Section 52-361a(f) caps the levy at the lesser of 25 per cent of disposable earnings for the week, or the amount by which those earnings exceed forty times the higher of the federal minimum hourly wage or the full Connecticut minimum fair wage under Section 31-58(i). At the $16.94 Connecticut rate effective January 1, 2026 the second prong protects the first $677.60 of weekly disposable earnings, so quote the formula and not the federal thirty times figure.

• Current Balance and the 20-Year Outer Wall

  The amount the levying officer collects toward: unpaid judgment principal, post-judgment interest to a stated date, taxable costs, less everything already paid. Section 52-598 bars any execution issued more than twenty years after the judgment was entered, cut to ten years for a judgment rendered in a small claims session, and revival cannot extend either period.

• The 20-Day Stay, and No Employer Answer Form

  Section 52-361a(d) stays the execution automatically for twenty days from service on the employer, which deducts nothing until the first wages paid after the period ends and must forthwith deliver or mail a copy to the judgment debtor. A claim filed inside the twenty days continues the stay until the court decides it. No employer answer, return or disclosure form exists in Connecticut.

• Continuing Levy Until Satisfaction

  Once the stay expires the execution is a lien and continuing levy on the stated share of earnings and the employer pays over each pay period with no re-service, until the judgment is satisfied or the execution is modified or set aside under Section 52-361a(h). Serve the paper within one year of issuance and make return within thirty days from satisfaction.

• Bank and Property Executions, $105 Each

  Wages are one of three targets. A property execution under Section 52-356a on form JD-CV-5 reaches nonexempt personal property other than earnings and bank debts and is returned within four months. A financial institution execution under Section 52-367b on form JD-CV-24 reaches a deposit account: the institution responds to the officer within seven business days, holds the funds fifteen days, takes an eight dollar fee, and leaves exempt federal direct deposits plus up to $1,000 of wage deposits from a two-month look-back.