New Jersey Writ of Garnishment
New Jersey issues no writ of garnishment. A judgment creditor serves a Notice of Application, waits out a ten day objection window, and gets a judge-signed wage execution capped at 10 percent of gross pay. Attorney review available.
Find out where you stand in New Jersey
What do you want the garnishment to reach?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
Introduction
The paper that reaches a New Jersey paycheck is not a writ a clerk hands you across a counter. It is an order a judge signs: Appendix XI-J to the New Jersey Rules of Court, form CN 11471, captioned Order, Certification and Execution Against Earnings and issued expressly under both 15 U.S.C. Section 1673 and N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56. The phrase writ of garnishment returns no documents anywhere in the New Jersey Revised Statutes, so a creditor who asks for one by that name is asking for nothing. The route runs in a fixed order and the order itself is the thing that trips people. First you serve the judgment debtor with a Notice of Application for Wage Execution, Appendix XI-I, form CN 11236. That notice gives the debtor ten days to write to the clerk and the creditor with reasons why the order should not be entered, and if the debtor stays silent the order is entered as of course. Then the deadline runs against you: no wage execution order is entered at all unless the form of order reaches the clerk within 45 days of that service, or within 30 days of the hearing if the debtor objected. The ceiling is New Jersey's own and it is far below the federal one. Section 2A:17-56(a) holds the amount specified in the execution to 10 percent, measured against gross pay on the judge's order, and the order says in terms that in no event shall more than 10 percent of gross salary be withheld, so the familiar federal 25 percent arithmetic never gets a turn. Wages under $48.00 a week cannot be touched at all. Two parties also take a cut before you see a dollar: the employer keeps 5 percent of each deduction and the court officer takes ten cents on every dollar collected. DocDraft builds your New Jersey wage execution papers from your facts, with attorney review available before you file.
Key Things to Know
- 1
New Jersey gives a judgment creditor the right to apply for a wage execution, and under N.J.S.A. 2A:17-50(a) the court grants an order directing that an execution issue against the wages, debts, earnings, salary, income from trust funds or profits owed to the judgment debtor; once a court officer presents it to the employer, Section 2A:17-51 makes it a lien and a continuing levy on pay not yet earned.
- 2
The sequence is not negotiable and the clock runs against the creditor. Serve the Notice of Application for Wage Execution, form CN 11236, on the judgment debtor; the debtor then has ten days to object in writing. Court Rule 4:59-1(e) bars entry of any order unless the form of order was filed within 45 days of that service, or 30 days of the hearing date.
- 3
Withholding is capped at 10 percent, not at the federal 25 percent. Section 2A:17-56(a) limits the amount specified in the execution to 10 percent unless the debtor's income exceeds 250 percent of the poverty level for an individual, taking family size into account, in which case the issuing court may order a larger percentage. The Appendix XI-J order measures the 10 percent against gross weekly pay.
- 4
Do not run the federal numbers and stop there. The 25 percent of disposable earnings figure and the $217.50 weekly threshold are federal, from 15 U.S.C. Section 1673(a) and 29 C.F.R. 870.10, where $217.50 is thirty times the $7.25 federal minimum hourly wage. The Appendix XI-J order takes the least of the three tests, and the 10 percent gross cap gets there first in ordinary cases.
- 5
Below $48.00 a week there is nothing to reach. Section 2A:17-57 provides that wages, debts, earnings, salaries, income from trust funds and profits of less than $48.00 a week are not liable to be seized or taken by any execution, civil process or order directing installment payments, and Section 2A:17-50(a) frames the application around pay of $48.00 or more a week.
- 6
Two deductions come off before the creditor is paid. Section 2A:17-53 lets the employer keep 5 percent of each payment as its own compensation for expense and services, while still crediting the debtor with the full amount, and N.J.S.A. 22A:2-37.2(c)(3) gives the Special Civil Part officer ten cents on every dollar collected, taxed in the costs.
- 7
Arriving second means collecting nothing, not sharing. Section 2A:17-52(a) satisfies only one wage execution at a time and ranks competing ones by the order in which they were presented to the employer, irrespective of which court issued them, with a support execution presented the same day satisfied first.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Writ of Garnishment in New Jersey, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Writ of Garnishment guide walks through them.
Open the Writ of Garnishment guideCustomize your Writ of Garnishment Template with DocDraft
New Jersey Requirements for Writ of Garnishment
Notice of Application First: Form CN 11236
Nothing issues until the judgment debtor has been served. New Jersey prescribes Appendix XI-I, form CN 11236, Notice of Application for Wage Execution, served by simultaneous ordinary and certified mail to the last known address with proof of service filed. It opens a ten day window for the debtor to write to the clerk and to you; silence means the order is entered as of course.
Form of Order Filed Within 45 Days
The hard deadline runs against the creditor, not the employer. Court Rule 4:59-1(e) bars entry of any wage execution order unless the form of order was filed with the clerk within 45 days of service of the notice, or within 30 days of the hearing date where the debtor objected. Miss it and the application dies and the notice has to be served again.
Judge-Signed Appendix XI-J Order, Form CN 11471
The instrument is an order, not a clerk-issued writ. Appendix XI-J to the Rules of Court, form CN 11471, is captioned Order, Certification and Execution Against Earnings and issued under both 15 U.S.C. 1673 and N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56. A judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Special Civil Part signs it, and the paper served on the employer is Appendix XII-E, form CN 11235.
Ceiling: 10 Percent of Gross Pay
N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56(a) holds the amount specified in the execution to 10 percent unless the debtor's income exceeds 250 percent of the poverty level for an individual, taking family size into account, in which case the issuing court may order a larger percentage. The order measures the 10 percent against gross weekly pay and states that in no event shall more than 10 percent of gross salary be withheld. Do not calculate on 25 percent: that is the federal floor, not this state's rule.
The $48.00 a Week Floor
Check the pay rate before you spend the filing fee. N.J.S.A. 2A:17-57 provides that wages, debts, earnings, salaries, income from trust funds and profits of less than $48.00 a week are not liable to be seized or taken by any execution, civil process or order directing installment payments, and N.J.S.A. 2A:17-50(a) frames the whole application around pay of $48.00 or more a week.
Current Balance, Certification and the Two Cuts
Court Rule 6:7-1(a) requires a certification of the amount due with the request for issuance: judgment amount, subsequent costs, credits for partial payments, and a detailed explanation of how post-judgment interest was calculated. Budget for the two deductions taken before you are paid. N.J.S.A. 2A:17-53 lets the employer keep 5 percent of each payment, and N.J.S.A. 22A:2-37.2(c)(3) gives the court officer ten cents on every dollar collected, taxed in the costs.
Fees: $5.00 to Issue, $7.00 to Serve
N.J.S.A. 22A:2-37.1(a)(10) sets $5.00 for a writ of execution or an order in the nature of execution issued subsequent to summons, which is what a wage execution is, and paragraph (a)(6) sets $7.00 for serving or executing any process, writ, order, execution, notice or warrant, which Section 22A:2-37.2(b) directs the clerk to pay over to the officer designated by the Assignment Judge. Paragraph (a)(5) lets the Administrative Director of the Courts set service fees, so reconcile the service figure against the Judiciary's current published schedule.
Presentation Order Wins, and Only One at a Time
N.J.S.A. 2A:17-52(a) satisfies only one execution against a debtor's earnings at a time and ranks competing ones by the order in which they were presented to the employer, irrespective of which court issued them, with a same-day support execution satisfied first. Where the employer fails or refuses to pay over, N.J.S.A. 2A:17-54 gives the creditor an action against it for those payments, applied to the execution, rather than a default judgment for the whole debt.