North Dakota Writ of Garnishment

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   North Dakota gives a judgment creditor a garnishee summons, which Section 32-09.1-06 permits against any third person at any time after judgment in a court of record for the recovery of money, and Section 32-09.1-02 makes a garnishment action under that chapter the exclusive procedure for executing on earnings while a third-party employer holds them.

2. 2

   Serve the ten day warning or lose the garnishment entirely. Section 32-09.1-04(1) makes the creditor serve the debtor a notice that a garnishee summons may be issued at least ten days before issuance, personally or by first-class mail, and states in terms that failure to serve the notice renders any subsequent garnishment void.

3. 3

   The ceiling beats the federal floor twice over. Section 32-09.1-03(1) caps a workweek at the lesser of twenty-five percent of disposable earnings or the amount by which those earnings exceed forty times the federal minimum hourly wage, not the federal thirty times, and subsection 2 then reduces that maximum by twenty dollars for every dependent family member residing with the debtor.

4. 4

   The dependent reduction is administered by the employer, not by the court or by you. The debtor has ten days after receiving the garnishment summons to hand the employer a list of dependents and their social security numbers signed under penalty of perjury; without a list no dependents are claimed, and a list produced later reaches only amounts subject to garnishment after the date it is provided.

5. 5

   Budget forty dollars for the service itself. Section 32-09.1-10 requires the plaintiff to tender the garnishee forty dollars as the fee for making the affidavit of disclosure at the moment the summons is served, and Section 32-09.1-05 sets the same forty dollars payable to the office of management and budget where the garnishee is the state or one of its agencies.

6. 6

   You state your own cap and cannot exceed it. Section 32-09.1-07(1)(b) defines the retention amount as the unpaid judgment balance plus one hundred twenty-five dollars plus nine months of interest on that balance, and subsection 2 forbids the plaintiff from requiring disclosure of anything beyond it. A garnishee retains only where the total of property, earnings and money reaches ten dollars.

7. 7

   Two clocks run and they are different lengths. A continuing lien on wages lasts two hundred seventy days and only where the plaintiff marks continuing lien on the caption of the summons (Section 32-09.1-21), while the summons itself lapses three hundred sixty days after service, at which point Section 32-09.1-20 discharges the garnishee of any liability.

North Dakota Requirements for Writ of Garnishment

• Garnishee Summons, Not a Writ of Garnishment

  The paper is a garnishee summons. Section 32-09.1-06 allows one against any third person at any time after judgment in a court of record for the recovery of money, and the phrase writ of garnishment returns zero hits across all twenty-three sections of chapter 32-09.1. Caption it Garnishee Summons and Notice to Defendant per Section 32-09.1-07(3). Section 32-09.1-02 makes this the exclusive route to earnings held by an employer.

• Ten Day Pre-Garnishment Notice or the Garnishment Is Void

  Before any garnishee summons issues against earnings, Section 32-09.1-04(1) requires the creditor to serve the debtor a notice that a garnishee summons may be issued, at least ten days ahead, personally or by first-class mail. The statute states that failure to serve the notice renders any subsequent garnishment void. Renewing an expiring wage lien instead uses the Section 32-09.1-04(2) notice, served at least ten but no more than twenty days before expiry.

• Ceiling: 25 Percent, or the Excess Over Forty Times Minimum Wage

  Section 32-09.1-03(1) caps any workweek at the lesser of twenty-five percent of disposable earnings for that week, or the amount by which those earnings exceed forty times the federal minimum hourly wage under FLSA section 6(a)(1). Subsection 2 then reduces that maximum by twenty dollars for each dependent family member residing with the debtor. Tighter than the federal floor on both counts, so do not calculate on a thirty times multiplier.

• Dependent List Goes to the Employer Within Ten Days

  The per-dependent reduction is not automatic and you do not administer it. Under Section 32-09.1-03(2) the debtor has ten days after receiving the garnishment summons to give the employer a list of dependents and their social security numbers, signed under penalty of perjury. No list means no dependents are claimed, and Section 32-09.1-07(1)(h) makes that failure conclusive. A later list applies only to amounts subject to garnishment after the date it is provided.

• Forty Dollars Tendered to the Garnishee at Service

  Section 32-09.1-10 requires the plaintiff to tender the garnishee forty dollars as the fee for making the affidavit of disclosure when the summons is served, so it is cash out of pocket per garnishee per summons. Where the garnishee is the state or a state institution, department or agency, Section 32-09.1-05 directs the same forty dollars to the office of management and budget. Clerk of district court charges are set separately in Section 27-05.2-03.

• Garnishee Answers the Plaintiff in Twenty Days, Not the Court

  Section 32-09.1-07(1)(a) gives the garnishee twenty days after service of the garnishee summons to serve on the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney a written disclosure under oath of its indebtedness to the defendant, plus sworn answers to any interrogatories served with the summons. Service on the garnishee must be personal under Section 32-09.1-08(1), and on a bank or credit union it goes to a specifically named president or vice president or the registered agent for service of process.

• Retention Amount: Unpaid Judgment Plus $125 Plus Nine Months of Interest

  State the cap in the summons. Section 32-09.1-07(1)(b) defines the retention amount as the sum of the unpaid judgment, one hundred twenty-five dollars, and nine months of interest on the unpaid judgment, and subsection 2 bars the plaintiff from requiring disclosure of property beyond it. Section 32-09.1-19 has the garnishee retain only where the total of property, earnings and money reaches ten dollars.

• The Summons Freezes; a Writ of Execution Between Day 20 and Day 360 Collects

  This is where creditors lose the money. Section 32-09.1-07(3) has the garnishee hold until a writ of execution is served, the defendant authorizes release, or three hundred sixty days from service expire, and Section 32-09.1-20 then discharges the garnishee. Section 28-21-04.2 requires the execution to be made between twenty and three hundred sixty days after service of the garnishment summons, served by a sheriff or a licensed attorney. A continuing lien on wages lasts two hundred seventy days and only where continuing lien is marked on the caption (Section 32-09.1-21).