New Hampshire Writ of Garnishment

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Once served, a New Hampshire trustee writ binds only what the trustee already held: RSA 512:9-c has the trustee place a hold on the money, goods, chattels, rights or credits of the defendant in its hands at the time of service, and gives it no duty to collect anything that becomes due afterwards. That one sentence is the whole shape of the instrument.

2. 2

   Nothing in the chapter is called a garnishment. RSA 512:3 makes the trustee writ an attachment and summons served on the defendant and the trustee like a writ of summons, and RSA 512:1 lets any personal action except replevin be begun by trustee process.

3. 3

   The schedule price of the request is $40.00. Both the Circuit Court Filing Fees and the Superior Court Fee Schedule, each effective 07/01/2025, print $40.00 for a petition or motion for a writ of trustee process, on top of the entry fee for the action itself, which is $300.00 for a District Division civil complaint or $325.00 for original entry in the Superior Court.

4. 4

   The trustee gets 30 days and the notice must shout it. RSA 512:3 requires the first page of the attachment to carry a boldface notice in at least 12-point type telling the trustee to complete and file the disclosure form with the court, the plaintiff and the defendant within 30 days of receipt or suffer the risk of default.

5. 5

   Wages earned before service are only reachable where the action is founded upon a debt on a judgment issued by a New Hampshire court of competent jurisdiction, and 50 times the Fair Labor Standards Act minimum hourly wage per week is exempt even then (RSA 512:21, II). Do not calculate on the federal 25 percent figure: that is a federal statute, not a New Hampshire entitlement, and this state legislates no percentage of its own.

6. 6

   Serving a bank is time-boxed. Under RSA 512:9-b a bank, trust company or similar corporation may be summoned only through a bank officer, branch supervisor or head teller of a branch, and only between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday except bank holidays, with service after 3:00 p.m. giving the trustee until the beginning of the next business day.

7. 7

   Because the writ cannot follow future pay, the companion lever for a wage earner is RSA 524:6-a, I: on the plaintiff's petition after judgment the court orders the defendant to appear for an ability-to-pay inquiry and may order periodic payments, and failure to pay them is civil contempt unless the judge finds changed circumstances, no bad faith, or other good cause. Both schedules price that motion at $25.00.

New Hampshire Requirements for Writ of Garnishment

• Trustee Writ, Not a Writ of Garnishment

  Name the paper correctly or it is not the paper. RSA 512:3 makes the trustee writ an attachment and summons served on the defendant and the trustee like a writ of summons, and RSA 512:1 allows any personal action except replevin to be begun by trustee process. The needle garnish returns zero hits across RSA 511, RSA 511-A and RSA 512, roughly 73,000 characters of chapter text.

• Permission First: NHJB-2316-DP or NHJB-3073-De

  RSA 511-A:1 requires notice and an opportunity for a preliminary hearing before any pre-judgment attachment, including an attachment of property held by a trustee. The paper request is NHJB-2316-DP, Petition / Motion to Attach with Notice, revised 10/25/2010, or NHJB-3073-De, Motion to Attach with Notice, revised 05/15/2020, for e-filing. NHJB-3072-De covers the ex parte route, available under RSA 511-A:8 in exceptional circumstances on probable cause.

• The Disclosure Form Goes Out With the Writ

  RSA 512:3 requires the trustee to be served concurrently with a disclosure form, and that form is NHJB-2593-DP, Trustee Disclosure. RSA 512:9-d limits it to four interrogatories and nothing more: the date of service, what was held at the time of service, any reductions for account fees or amounts not belonging to the defendant, and any known priority claims of other people.

• The Carve-Out: Post-Service Wages Are Exempt

  RSA 512:21, I exempts wages for labor performed by the defendant after the writ is served on the trustee, and RSA 512:9-c gives the trustee no duty to collect anything becoming due after that moment. Pre-service wages are exempt unless the action is founded upon a debt on a judgment of a New Hampshire court, and 50 times the Fair Labor Standards Act minimum hourly wage per week is exempt even then. New Hampshire sets no percentage of its own, so do not plan on the federal 25 percent figure as if it were state law.

• Judgment Details and the 20-Year Horizon

  Identify the judgment the writ rides on: court, date of entry, case number, unpaid principal, interest to a stated date, recoverable costs, less everything already collected. RSA 512:21, II only opens pre-service wages where the action is founded upon a debt on a judgment issued by a New Hampshire court of competent jurisdiction, and RSA 508:5 allows an action of debt upon a judgment within 20 years after the cause of action accrued.

• 30 Days to Disclose, in 12-Point Boldface

  RSA 512:3 requires the first page of the attachment to carry a notice in boldface, in at least 12-point type, advising the trustee to complete and file the disclosure with the court, the plaintiff and the defendant within 30 days of receipt or suffer the risk of default. Return of the form operates as the answer and appearance. RSA 512:18-a then gives 30 days from receipt of the disclosure before it fixes chargeability, while RSA 512:20 speaks of 60 days from filing.

• Fees: $40 for the Writ, Plus the Entry Fee

  Both official schedules effective 07/01/2025 price the request at $40.00: the Circuit Court line reads Petition/Motion for Ex Parte Attachment or Writ of Trustee Process, and the Superior Court line reads Motion for Ex Parte Attachment, Ex Parte Petition for Writ of Trustee Process. The action itself costs $300.00 as a District Division civil complaint or $325.00 for original entry in the Superior Court, with a Writ of Execution at $40.00, a Motion for Periodic Payments at $25.00, Registration of a Foreign Judgment at $265.00, and a 3 percent surcharge on electronic card payments.

• Trustee Default Reaches the Whole Judgment

  Under RSA 512:11 a trustee that fails to file the disclosure within 30 days of service may be adjudged chargeable for a sum up to the amount of the judgment the plaintiff may recover, subject to RSA 512:10, which bars a charge on default until the trustee has neglected to file after such notice as the court may order. Once charged, RSA 512:36 lets execution issue against the trustee as for its own debt. Priority between attaching creditors runs in the order notice was served on the defendant (RSA 511-A:5).