Washington Writ of Garnishment
A Washington writ of garnishment for a continuing lien on earnings runs for sixty days and then dies, the clerk charges $20 in superior court and $12 in district court, and the creditor fills in the exemption table that keeps the lien alive. Attorney review available.
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Introduction
Sixty days is the entire working life of a Washington wage garnishment, and the countdown is measured in payroll periods rather than calendar weeks. Under RCW 6.27.350(1) a writ for a continuing lien on earnings catches the nonexempt pay due on its effective date and every nonexempt dollar that accrues through the employer's last payroll period ending on or before the sixtieth day, and it stops there unless the total withheld hits the amount printed on the writ first. It ends earlier if the job ends, if the writ is dismissed, or if the judgment is vacated, modified or paid in full. So a creditor collecting a large balance out of a paycheck is not running one garnishment; it is running a series, and the statute expects that. The effective date of a writ is the date of service only where no earlier writ was served. Where one was, the effective date is the day that earlier writ terminates, so a second writ queues up behind the first rather than competing with it, and RCW 6.27.360(1) withholds priority from a writ served while another writ in the same case is still pending. The part that catches out-of-state collection counsel is who does the arithmetic. RCW 6.27.340(3) requires the plaintiff, not the clerk and not the employer, to fill in the minimum exemption amounts for each pay period and the maximum percentages of disposable earnings before the answer forms go out, and RCW 6.27.340(4) lets the employer elect to treat the garnishment as one not creating a continuing lien if the plaintiff did not. Leave that table blank and a sixty-day lien becomes a one-paycheck snapshot. The percentages are Washington's own and tighter than the federal allowance on the kind of judgment most collection files hold: for consumer debt, which RCW 6.01.060(2) defines to include medical debt, RCW 6.27.150(4) exempts the greater of 80 percent of disposable earnings or 35 times the state minimum hourly wage. DocDraft builds your Washington garnishment papers from your facts, with attorney review available before you file.
Key Things to Know
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Once served, a Washington writ of garnishment binds whoever is holding the judgment debtor's money or owes the debtor a debt: from the moment of service that garnishee may not pay the debt or deliver, sell or transfer the debtor's personal property, and RCW 6.27.120(1) makes any payment or transfer it does make void as far as the creditor's demand reaches.
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The clerk of the superior court or district court holding the unsatisfied judgment issues it on a creditor's affidavit, and RCW 6.27.020(2) lets the creditor's attorney of record issue a district court writ directly, subscribed by the attorney's own signature instead of the clerk's.
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Two fees and a check. RCW 36.18.016(6) charges $20 for each garnishee defendant named in the affidavit in superior court and RCW 3.62.060(1)(b) charges $12 in district court, and under RCW 6.27.110(1) service of a writ that is not a continuing lien on earnings is invalid unless a $20 check or money order payable to the garnishee goes out with it.
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The forms are printed in the statute rather than issued as numbered court forms. RCW 6.27.100 prescribes the writ, RCW 6.27.105 the writ for a continuing lien on earnings, RCW 6.27.190(3) and RCW 6.27.340(2) the answers, and RCW 6.27.140 the notice and claim form mailed to the debtor, each to be followed substantially.
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One continuing-lien writ reaches earnings due at its effective date plus subsequent nonexempt earnings until the amount stated on the writ is withheld or the payroll period ending on or before the sixtieth day after that effective date closes, whichever comes first (RCW 6.27.350(1)). Collecting beyond that means issuing and serving another writ.
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The ceiling moves with the debt. For consumer debt the exempt amount is the greater of 80 percent of disposable earnings or 35 times the state minimum hourly wage, which Labor and Industries sets at $17.13 an hour for 2026, so about $599.55 a week is untouchable; ordinary judgments exempt the greatest of 75 percent or 35 times the federal minimum; private student loan judgments exempt the greater of 85 percent or 50 times the highest minimum wage law in the state (RCW 6.27.150).
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The garnishee has twenty days from service to answer on the forms served with the writ, and the writ itself warns that a failure to answer can produce judgment against the garnishee for the creditor's whole unpaid judgment with interest, fees and costs, whether or not it owes the debtor anything (RCW 6.27.070(1), RCW 6.27.200).
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Writ of Garnishment in Washington, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Writ of Garnishment guide walks through them.
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Washington Requirements for Writ of Garnishment
Affidavit to the Clerk, $20 or $12
Apply by affidavit under RCW 6.27.060, stating that the judgment is wholly or partially unsatisfied in that court, the amount due, your belief about what the garnishee holds, and whether the garnishee is the debtor's employer. The clerk of the superior or district court that holds the judgment then issues the writ. RCW 36.18.016(6) charges $20 for each garnishee defendant named in superior court; RCW 3.62.060(1)(b) charges $12 in district court. In district court your attorney of record may issue the writ instead, subscribed by the attorney's own signature (RCW 6.27.020(2)).
Statutory Writ Text, Not a Numbered Court Form
Chapter 6.27 RCW prints the papers. RCW 6.27.105 prescribes the writ of garnishment for continuing lien on earnings and RCW 6.27.100 prescribes every other writ, each to be followed substantially, with the conspicuous caption line declaring a consumer debt or private student loan judgment where that applies. The answers are prescribed in RCW 6.27.190(3) and RCW 6.27.340(2), the debtor's notice in RCW 6.27.140.
Amount to Hold, With Per Diem Interest
RCW 6.27.090 makes the first paragraph of the writ carry the amount the garnishee must hold: the unsatisfied judgment plus interest to the date of garnishment, plus a stated per day dollar amount of estimated interest calculated at 12 percent or the judgment rate, whichever is less, plus taxable costs and estimated garnishment costs. Those costs may include a garnishment attorney fee of the greater of $100 or 10 percent of the unsatisfied judgment, never above $300.
Ceiling: 20 Percent on Consumer Debt
RCW 6.27.150 runs three ceilings. Consumer debt, which RCW 6.01.060(2) defines to include medical debt, exempts the greater of 80 percent of disposable earnings or 35 times the state minimum hourly wage, published by Labor and Industries at $17.13 per hour for 2026. Ordinary judgments exempt the greatest of 75 percent or 35 times the federal minimum hourly wage. Private student loan judgments exempt the greater of 85 percent or 50 times the highest minimum wage law in the state. Tighter than the federal allowance, so do not calculate on 25 percent.
The Exemption Table You Must Fill In
Before the answer forms go out, RCW 6.27.340(3) requires the plaintiff to fill in the minimum exemption amounts for weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly and monthly pay and the maximum percentages of disposable earnings subject to and exempt from the lien. RCW 6.27.340(4) lets the employer elect to treat the garnishment as one not creating a continuing lien if you do not. Since July 1, 2025 the account exemption amounts from RCW 6.15.010 must also be written into the writ and the debtor's notice, doubled for a marital community or domestic partnership.
Service Package and the 20-Day Answer
Service is invalid unless the answer form goes out with the writ, plus a $20 check or money order payable to the garnishee where the writ is not a continuing lien on earnings (RCW 6.27.110(1)). Certified mail with return receipt requested binds the garnishee on the date shown on the receipt; otherwise the sheriff or any person qualified to serve a summons serves it. The garnishee answers within twenty days of service. On or before the service date, mail the writ, the affidavit and the RCW 6.27.140 notice to the debtor by certified mail (RCW 6.27.130(1)).
Sixty Days, Then a Fresh Writ
RCW 6.27.350(1) ends the lien at the amount stated on the writ or at the employer's payroll period ending on or before the sixtieth day after the writ's effective date, whichever is first, and sooner if the job ends, the writ is dismissed, or the judgment is vacated, modified or satisfied in full. The effective date is the service date only where no earlier writ was served; otherwise it is the day the earlier writ terminates. Mail the second answer form at the expected termination and the garnishee answers within twenty days (RCW 6.27.350(2) and (3)). One year after the answer, RCW 6.27.310 requires dismissal on ten days' notice to you.
Priority, and the Non-Answering Garnishee
A continuing lien outranks later garnishments and even a prior wage assignment, but a writ served while another writ in the same case is pending gets no priority lien, and child support withholding plus legal financial obligation assignments come first (RCW 6.27.360). A garnishee that does not answer faces judgment for your whole unpaid judgment with interest and costs after ten calendar days' notice, reducible on its motion within seven days to what it actually held, or $100, whichever is more (RCW 6.27.200). An employer may not fire the debtor over the garnishment unless three or more separate indebtednesses are served within twelve consecutive months (RCW 6.27.170).