Georgia Writ of Garnishment

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   A Georgia summons of garnishment, the paper a court clerk issues on a judgment creditor's sworn affidavit, reaches every obligation the garnishee already owes the defendant at the moment of service plus everything that accrues through the garnishment period, and all of the defendant's money or property in that garnishee's hands, but it does not reach more of a work week's disposable earnings than Code Section 18-4-5 allows, and it does not reach collateral securities while any amount is still owed on the debt they secure.

2. 2

   Georgia put its garnishment forms inside the Code instead of issuing numbered court forms, so there is no number to cite. Section 18-4-70(a) makes the Article 4 forms mandatory while allowing your own format if it carries all the same information, and Section 18-4-7(d) sets the penalty for getting it wrong: an incorrect summons form means no valid garnishment and a garnishee relieved of all liability.

3. 3

   The clerk of any Georgia court with garnishment jurisdiction can issue it and the procedure is identical in all of them under Section 18-4-2(a). Magistrate court handles garnishments where the amount demanded or the value claimed does not exceed $15,000.00 under Section 15-10-2(5), and state or superior court takes the larger ones. A federal court judgment, or a foreign judgment being enforced here, entitles you to the process just as a Georgia judgment does.

4. 4

   The weekly ceiling in Section 18-4-5(a)(2) is the lesser of 25 percent of the defendant's disposable earnings for that work week, or the amount by which those earnings exceed $217.50. Those figures sit in Georgia's own statute, but they are the federal floor restated, so Georgia adds nothing above it for ordinary judgment debt. The single place Georgia goes tighter is 15 percent where the judgment arose from a private student loan.

5. 5

   Nothing arrives quickly and nothing arrives straight to you. An employer garnishee files its answer no sooner than 30 days and no later than 45 days after service, a bank served with a one-shot garnishment answers between the fifth and the fifteenth day, and under Section 18-4-11(a) the money and property go to the court along with that answer rather than to the creditor.

6. 6

   One summons of continuing garnishment captures the next 1,095 days measured from the day of service, while an ordinary garnishment covers only the next 29 days and a garnishment on a financial institution only the next five (Section 18-4-4(c)). Outside continuing garnishment, Section 18-4-9(b) stops any fresh summons issuing on the same affidavit after two years from its original filing date.

7. 7

   Competing claims on money already paid into court are ranked by age of judgment rather than by who served first: Section 18-4-18 gives priority to the party with the oldest entered judgment, once the clerk has been paid the court cost of each garnishment proceeding. Budget for the garnishee taking $50.00 or 10 percent of what it pays in, whichever is greater and no more than $100.00, off the top under Section 18-4-14(a).

Georgia Requirements for Writ of Garnishment

• Affidavit of Garnishment, Sworn Before Filing

  Nothing issues without the affidavit. Section 18-4-3(a) requires the plaintiff, the plaintiff's attorney or the plaintiff's agent to swear, on personal knowledge or belief, to the judgment against a named defendant, the amount remaining due, the court that rendered it and the case number. It must be sworn before an officer authorised to administer oaths, a notary, the clerk or a deputy clerk, and the form sits at Section 18-4-71. Electronic submission is available only where that court has promulgated rules for it.

• Statutory Forms That Carry No Form Number

  Georgia printed the forms in the Code rather than issuing numbered court forms, so there is no number to quote: affidavit at 18-4-71, continuing affidavit at 18-4-72, summons at 18-4-74, summons on a financial institution at 18-4-76, summons of continuing garnishment at 18-4-78, defendant notice and claim form at 18-4-82, answers at 18-4-84 to 18-4-86. Section 18-4-70(a) makes them mandatory but lets you use your own format if it carries all the same information.

• Court Choice and the $15,000.00 Magistrate Line

  Any Georgia court with garnishment jurisdiction can issue the summons, and Section 18-4-2(a) makes the procedure uniform across all of them. Section 15-10-2(5) gives magistrate court civil claims including garnishment where exclusive jurisdiction is not vested in the superior court and the amount demanded or the value claimed does not exceed $15,000.00. A money judgment from a federal court, or one enforced here under the foreign-judgment acts, qualifies under Section 18-4-2(b).

• Ceiling: 25 Percent, or the Excess Over $217.50

  Section 18-4-5(a)(2) caps each work week at the lesser of 25 percent of the defendant's disposable earnings, or the amount by which those earnings exceed $217.50, with 15 percent replacing 25 percent where the judgment arose from a private student loan. Other pay cycles use the fraction or multiple of 30 hours per week at $7.25 per hour. Those are Georgia's own words but also the federal floor, so do not price the matter as though Georgia gave you anything extra.

• Amount Remaining Due, With Recaptured Fees

  The figure on the affidavit drives everything, because the garnishee's default exposure is measured by it. State the unpaid principal, accrued interest and recoverable costs, less everything collected, and never a figure above what the defendant owes under the judgment (Section 18-4-7(a)). Section 18-4-3(e) lets you add, at your election, unrecovered filing and service fees paid for previous garnishment actions based on the same judgment.

• Answer Between Day 30 and Day 45, Money to the Court

  Section 18-4-10(b) sets the ordinary answer window at not sooner than 30 days and not later than 45 days after service, and Section 18-4-10(c) shortens it to between five and 15 days for a financial institution served with a garnishment that is not continuing. Under Section 18-4-11(a) the money and property travel to the court with the answer, not to the creditor, unless the voluntary reduction form at Section 18-4-90 has been filed and served.

• Three Business Days to Reach the Defendant

  This is the deadline that runs against you. Section 18-4-8(b)(1) allows not more than three business days after the summons is served on the garnishee to get the defendant copies of the affidavit, the summons, the Notice to Defendant of Right Against Garnishment of Money, Including Wages, and Other Property, and the Defendant's Claim Form. Use regular mail plus registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery with proof filed, personal delivery with a certification filed, or regular mail on a sworn showing the defendant cannot be found in this state.

• Default on Day 46, Knocked Down Within 90 Days

  A garnishee that has not answered by the forty-fifth day is automatically in default under Section 18-4-21, can cure as of right by answering within 15 days and paying costs, and after that may have a default judgment entered against it for the whole amount remaining due as your affidavit shows it. Section 18-4-22 starts the same run on the fifteenth day for a financial institution. Then Section 18-4-24 makes you serve the default judgment and gives the garnishee 90 days from that service to have it reduced to $50.00 plus 100 percent of what it actually held.