Hawaii Writ of Garnishment

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   A Hawaii garnishee summons reaches what chapter 652 calls the garnishee fund: the judgment debtor's goods and effects in the garnishee's hands, any debt the garnishee owes the debtor at the time of service, money the garnishee holds for the debtor in safekeeping, and a statutory portion of wages. It does not reach a debt that is not yet payable, which instead becomes a lien under Section 652-10 until that debt comes due.

2. 2

   There are two post-judgment routes and only one of them involves a judge. Move the court for issuance of a garnishee summons after judgment, or, where the judgment came out of the district court, wait ten days and serve a certified copy of the judgment plus your affidavit of the amount due and unpaid on the employer under Section 652-1(b).

3. 3

   The cap is tiered by month, not flat. From wages left after every deduction the law requires, the garnishee withholds 5 percent of the first $100 per month, 10 percent of the next $100 per month, and 20 percent of all sums over $200 per month, or an equivalent portion per week (Section 652-1(a)(4)). The judiciary worksheet collapses the first two bands to a flat $15.00 and adds 20 percent of the monthly excess.

4. 4

   Hawaii prescribes no statewide garnishment form. Chapter 652 prescribes none, and each circuit's district court publishes its own numbered set, so a First Circuit filer uses 1DC29, 1DC32, 1DC26 and 1DC30 while the other circuits use 2DC, 3DC and 5DC equivalents whose titles are not identical.

5. 5

   The garnishee's clock is a return day, not a day count. Section 652-1(c) lets the garnishee file a return under oath on or before the return day printed on the summons, and First Circuit form 1DC32 fixes that day by division, for instance 1:30 p.m. on the second Monday after service for the Honolulu Division. A federal agency garnishee gets thirty days.

6. 6

   One garnishment keeps capturing pay without re-service, but it is attached to the job rather than to the debtor. Section 652-4 continues the withholding from week to week or month to month until the judgment plus legal interest is fully paid, or until the debtor quits that employer. When the debtor moves, Section 652-5 makes you sequester again by filing a certified judgment and a fresh affidavit of the balance with the new employer.

7. 7

   The garnishee is not defenceless, and a creditor should price that in. Section 652-2(b) lets the garnishee retain every demand it could have asserted against the debtor and makes it liable only for the balance after mutual demands are adjusted, Section 652-2(c) and Section 652-1(f) shield a garnishee acting in good faith, and Section 652-12 makes a payment a valid discharge even if the judgment is later reversed.

Hawaii Requirements for Writ of Garnishment

• No Statewide Form: File Your Circuit's Set

  Chapter 652 prescribes no form and the judiciary publishes a separate numbered set per circuit district court. The First Circuit chain is 1DC29 (motion), 1DC32 (Garnishee Summons, revised 1 July 2026), 1DC26 (disclosure) and 1DC30 (order to pay over). The other circuits use 2DC, 3DC and 5DC equivalents, and the titles differ, so pull the set for the circuit your judgment sits in.

• Two Routes: Motion, or Day 10 to the Employer

  Either move the court for issuance of a garnishee summons after judgment, which the clerk issues and an officer serves, or use the shortcut in Section 652-1(b). Ten days after judgment, in an action brought in the district court only, a creditor may file a certified copy of the judgment and an affidavit of the amount due and unpaid with the employer and never involve the court.

• Certified Judgment and the Current Balance

  Both routes run off the judgment itself. Attach a certified copy as an exhibit and state the current amount due: unpaid principal, legal interest, recoverable costs, less everything collected. Certification costs $2 per document plus $1 for the first page and 50 cents per page after on the judiciary fee schedule. The direct-to-employer declaration also states that the judgment has been in effect at least 10 days and has not been appealed, reversed, set aside or satisfied.

• Ceiling: 5, 10 and 20 Percent Monthly Bands

  Not a flat percentage. After the garnishee deducts the amounts the law requires to be withheld, Section 652-1(a)(4) takes 5 percent of the first $100 per month, 10 percent of the next $100 per month, and 20 percent of all sums over $200 per month, or an equivalent portion per week. Worksheet 1DC27C runs it as a flat $15 plus 20 percent of the monthly excess, and directs the garnishee to compare the result with the separate federal calculation and use the smaller amount. The 20 percent top band sits below the federal 25 percent, so do not calculate on 25.

• Hold No More Than 120 Percent of the Claim

  The summons must specify an amount that does not exceed 120 per cent of the claim including cost and interest, and First Circuit form 1DC32 prints that cap on its face, ordering the garnishee to hold and secure from the time of service until further order. Where the garnishee owes the debtor a debt that is not yet payable, Section 652-10 turns the judgment into a lien on it until the debt comes due.

• Return Day, or One Week to Disclose

  On the summons route the garnishee may file a return under oath on or before the return day and serve a copy on the creditor by then, and form 1DC32 fixes that day by division, for instance 1:30 p.m. on the second Monday after service for the Honolulu Division. A federal agency garnishee gets thirty days. On the employer route the clock is one week: the employer either files a disclosure within one week or withholds and pays the creditor.

• First Served Wins, and Later Judgments Wait

  Where successive actions name the same garnishee and the same debtor, Section 652-7 gives precedence to the one in which the garnishee was served first, and breaks simultaneous service by the order in which the processes issued. A later action that reaches judgment sooner does not move up, amounts withheld on the earlier action are held to await its result, and later judgments stay postponed until the earlier one is satisfied.

• Execution Against a Contumacious Garnishee

  A garnishee that does not appear on the day and hour named, or appears and refuses to disclose on oath, sends the case to trial, and under Section 652-8 execution issues at the creditor's request against that garnishee's own estate for the judgment as its own proper debt plus lawful costs, reduced to the value of the property where that is less. Section 652-2(b) does the same to a garnishee that pays the property out or ignores the officer's demand, subject to the garnishee's right to set off its own demands against the debtor.