Kentucky Writ of Garnishment

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   In Kentucky the instrument is called an order of garnishment, and KRS 425.501(1) lets anyone holding a final judgment in personam get one by filing an affidavit with the clerk of the court that entered the judgment, in the same cause, showing the judgment date, the amount due, and one or more named persons who hold property belonging to or are indebted to the judgment debtor.

2. 2

   The Administrative Office of the Courts prescribes a numbered form for each track. Wages run on AOC-150, revised 7-26, which carries three document codes on one four-page form: GAW for the Affidavit for Order of Wage Garnishment, GAG for the Order of Wage Garnishment, and GW for the exemption notice. Everything else runs on AOC-145, revised 9-10, with the order issued on AOC-150.1, revised 11-20.

3. 3

   No bond is required and you do not have to stop at one. KRS 425.501(2) relieves the judgment plaintiff of executing bond to obtain the order, and KRS 425.501(6) provides that subsequent orders of garnishment against the same or other garnishees may be issued in the same manner until the judgment is satisfied.

4. 4

   The ceiling is the federal one written into state law. Under KRS 427.010(2) a workweek's garnishment may not exceed the lesser of 25 percent of disposable earnings for that week or the amount by which they exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage, so do not quote a Kentucky percentage to an employer as though the Commonwealth had legislated below the federal cap. It has not.

5. 5

   AOC-150 turns that cap into a worksheet the payroll department fills in, and it is phrased as an exemption rather than a share. Exempt earnings are the greater of 75 percent of disposable earnings or $217.50 weekly, $435.00 bi-weekly, $471.25 semi-monthly, or $942.50 monthly, and line 4(d) subtracts any ordered child support before the non-exempt figure is reached, so a support withholding already in place comes off the top ahead of you.

6. 6

   You can serve it yourself, by mail. CR 69.02(1) permits service under Rule 4, or at your option by directing the order to the garnishee by regular first class or certified mail, or by personal service, with the expense recoverable as costs. KRS 425.501(3) still makes the judgment plaintiff pay the garnishee a $10 processing fee, and the garnishee keeps it whether or not it turns out to hold anything.

7. 7

   A new statute changed the paperwork in mid-2026. KRS 425.008, effective July 15, 2026, requires any earnings order handed to a garnishee-employer to carry eight identified items clearly placed on a single page, including where the employer submits remittances, and allows the debtor's date of birth and Social Security number to travel on a separate addendum. AOC-150 and AOC-150.5 both sit at Rev. 7-26 because of it.

Kentucky Requirements for Writ of Garnishment

• Affidavit for Order of Wage Garnishment, AOC-150

  The wage track opens with your sworn affidavit. KRS 425.501(1) requires it to be filed with the clerk of the court that entered the judgment, in the same cause, and to show the judgment date, the amount due and the garnishee who holds property of or owes money to the judgment debtor. Kentucky prescribes form AOC-150, Doc Code GAW, revised 7-26. KRS 425.501(2) relieves you of any bond.

• Order of Wage Garnishment, Continuous or as Designated

  The order served on the employer is the same AOC-150 at Doc Code GAG, captioned ORDER OF WAGE GARNISHMENT (CONTINUOUS OR AS DESIGNATED) and signed by the Circuit Clerk. It commands withholding each pay period until the amount due plus interest and costs is paid in full, or for only the run of succeeding pay periods you write into the blank. KRS 425.506(1) is the authority for the lien that reaches those later pay periods.

• Non-Wage Track: AOC-145 Plus AOC-150.1

  A bank account, or a debt a third party owes the judgment debtor, runs on different paper: AOC-145, Affidavit for Writ of Non-Wage Garnishment, Doc. Code GAN, revised 9-10, with the order issued on AOC-150.1, Order of Garnishment (Non-Wage), Doc. Code GN, revised 11-20. AOC-150.1 is a snapshot, so the garnishee swears only to what it held or owed at the time of service.

• Ceiling: 25 Percent or the Excess Over 30 Times the Federal Wage

  KRS 427.010(2) caps a workweek's garnishment at the lesser of 25 percent of disposable earnings for that week, or the amount by which they exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage under Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. That is the federal ceiling restated in state law, not a tighter state rule. Watch KRS 427.050 too: where the wages are earned and payable elsewhere, that state's exemption law can govern instead.

• $15 to Issue, Plus the $10 the Garnishee Keeps

  Three numbers, one filer. CR 3.02(2)(i) for Circuit Court and CR 3.03(3)(h) for District Court each set Issuing garnishments at $15.00, payable to the circuit clerk when the service is requested, under rules effective July 1, 2026. KRS 425.501(3) makes the judgment plaintiff pay the garnishee a $10 processing fee that it keeps regardless of whether it holds anything. Sheriff service, if used, is $20.00 per process.

• Single-Page Employer Information Under KRS 425.008

  Since July 15, 2026 an earnings order given to a garnishee-employer must carry eight items clearly placed on a single page: the debtor's name, last known physical address or a statement that it is unknown, last known mailing address or its equivalent statement, the amount of the debt, information identifying the judgment, the creditor agent's name and contact information, where the employer submits remittances, and any optional alternative remittance method. Date of birth and Social Security number go on a separate addendum.

• Answer Within 20 Days of Receipt, Then Again at Each Change

  CR 69.02(2) requires the garnishee to answer within the time required by CR 12.01, measured from receiving the order, and AOC-150 states that as 20 days from the employer's receipt or 30 days where the judgment debtor is a federal government employee. The employer must answer again when it first withholds and whenever a later paycheck's withholding differs. Withheld wages go to your attorney of record, or to the clerk if you have none, and sit in escrow fifteen days.

• Priority by Date of Service, and the Silent Garnishee

  KRS 425.506(2) ranks competing orders by the date of service on the employer, each inferior order taking effect as if served at the start of the next pay period free of a prior order, and bars any creditor from causing two orders to be served against the same employee in one pay period. If the garnishee goes silent, KRS 425.511(2) allows compulsion by process as in cases of contempt, and KRS 425.526 allows a separate action against the garnishee.