Tennessee Writ of Garnishment

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   A Tennessee writ of garnishment reaches the judgment debtor's realty, personalty, money, wages, corporate stock, choses in action whether due or not, and court judgments once it is served on whoever holds them, and it obliges that person to answer the writ and account to the court for them (Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 69.05(1)). What it does not reach is a single dollar of pay in any week when disposable earnings fail to clear thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage (Section 26-2-106(a)).

2. 2

   Two business days, not two weeks. Section 26-2-203(b) requires the garnishee to work out within two business days of receiving the garnishment whether it holds the debtor's money or property, place a hold on all available funds, and only then mail or deliver the writ and the Notice to Judgment Debtor. 2025 Public Chapter 174 wrote that duty in notwithstanding any other law or rule to the contrary.

3. 3

   Then three more clocks run. The garnishee files a written answer with the court within ten days of service and files the withheld money or wages within thirty (Rule 69.05(3)), the garnishment summons cannot set its appearance sooner than ten business days after the date of service (Section 26-2-203(a)), and an employer garnishee remits at least once each calendar thirty days (Section 26-2-215).

4. 4

   The ceiling is the lesser of 25 percent of that week's disposable earnings or the amount by which those earnings exceed thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage, and then $2.50 a week comes off for each dependent child under sixteen who lives in Tennessee (Sections 26-2-106, 26-2-107, 26-2-404(b)). Those two percentages are the federal floor's own numbers, so the per-child subtraction is the only place Tennessee moves the line, and it does not apply at all unless the debtor tells the employer about each child.

5. 5

   One writ keeps capturing future pay periods with no re-service, but not for long. Section 26-2-214(b)(1) makes the balance due a lien on earnings owed at service and continues it only until the judgment and costs are paid or until the payment period immediately before six calendar months after service, whichever comes first, and it dies early if the debtor stops working for that garnishee or the judgment is vacated or modified.

6. 6

   Being second in the queue costs a full six months. Under Section 26-2-224 a later filed writ that deducts the maximum the law allows does not run concurrently with the earlier writ and does not begin to run until the earlier writ's judgment is satisfied, that writ expires, or it is stayed by an installment motion, and earnings liens otherwise rank in the order they were obtained (Section 26-2-214(b)(2)).

7. 7

   Issuing one is cheap and the debtor carries the cost. The clerk charges a $25 post-judgment fee per occurrence whether the judgment is enforced by garnishment, execution, levy or other process, under the Section 8-21-401(i) standard costs that took effect January 1, 2026, the sheriff or constable charges $40 for each garnishment served because every garnishment counts as an original one (Section 8-21-901(a)(2)(B)), and Section 26-2-106(c) puts the costs of any and all garnishments on the debtor.

Tennessee Requirements for Writ of Garnishment

• Writ Issued by the Clerk of the Judgment Court

  Ask the clerk of the Tennessee court that entered the judgment. Rule 69.01 applies Rule 69 to executions and garnishments in all Tennessee courts, so the general sessions, circuit or chancery clerk issues it on the same footing, and Section 26-2-203(a) returns the garnishee to the court from which the execution issued rather than to a separate enforcement docket.

• No Form Number, but Mandatory Notice Text

  Tennessee prescribes no numbered statewide writ form; a scan of all 35 garnishment sections returns zero hits for a prescribed form or an Administrative Office of the Courts form. It prescribes the text instead: Section 26-2-403 bars a clerk from issuing a garnishment without the Section 26-2-404 or Section 26-2-216 notice plus the Section 26-2-203 notice, and Section 26-2-404(a) requires that notice to appear in the writ or be securely attached.

• Garnishee Block and the Two Business Day Hold

  Name the employer or financial institution and its address for service, because the clock starts on receipt. Section 26-2-203(b), as rewritten by 2025 Public Chapter 174 and expressly overriding any other law or rule, gives the garnishee two business days to determine whether it holds the debtor's money or property, place a hold on all available funds, and only then furnish the writ and notice to the debtor.

• Ceiling: 25 Percent, Less $2.50 per Child

  Withholding is the lesser of 25 percent of that week's disposable earnings or the amount by which those earnings exceed thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage, then reduced by $2.50 per week for each dependent child under sixteen residing in Tennessee, being $5.00 biweekly, $5.42 semimonthly or $10.83 monthly (Sections 26-2-106, 26-2-107, 26-2-404(b)(1)). The percentages match the federal floor, so the per-child subtraction is the only state improvement, and it fails if the debtor never tells the employer.

• Balance Due and the Ten Year Judgment Life

  State what the garnishee is collecting toward: unpaid principal, interest accrued to a stated date, recoverable post-judgment costs, less everything already collected. Rule 69.04 caps the whole exercise at the judgment's ten year life, extendable for another ten years on a motion filed within that window, which is granted without a hearing if the debtor files no response in thirty days.

• Answer in Ten Days, Money in Thirty

  Rule 69.05(3) gives the garnishee ten days from service to file a written answer accounting for what it holds and thirty days from service to file the money or wages, minus statutory exemptions, with the court. The summons cannot set the appearance sooner than ten business days after service (Section 26-2-203(a)), and an employer garnishee then remits not less than once each calendar thirty days (Section 26-2-215).

• Six Month Lien and the Stacking Rule

  Section 26-2-214(b)(1) carries the lien onto later earnings until the judgment and costs are paid or until the payment period immediately before six calendar months after service, whichever is first, ending early if the debtor leaves that garnishee or the judgment is vacated or modified. Section 26-2-224 then banks a later filed writ rather than burning it: it does not run concurrently and does not start until the earlier writ is satisfied, expires, or is stayed by installment motion.

• Garnishee Default Means the Whole Judgment

  Spell out the consequence on the face of the writ. Rule 69.05(4) turns a failure to answer or pay money into court into a conditional judgment, a show cause order, and then, absent sufficient cause within ten days, a final judgment and a writ of execution against the garnishee for the entire judgment owed the creditor plus costs; Section 26-2-209 is the statutory twin. Section 26-2-223 voids such a judgment where no wages were due the employee.