By Alfred Villoch, III, with Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC
So you owe money to a creditor, like a credit card company, and the creditor sues you. Eventually, a court awards your creditor a money judgment, say for $10,000. Can the creditor now garnish your wages in an effort to satisfy that judgment? Put another way, can the creditor get a court order directing your employer to pay over part of your paycheck whenever you get paid?
The short answer is “yes,” but there are important limitations and exceptions to wage garnishment. See § 77.0305, Fla. Stat., entitled “Continuing Writ of Garnishment Against Salary or Wages.” The general rule is that a creditor can continue to garnish your wages under a continuing writ of garnishment until the judgment, or in this example, the $10,000, is paid in full.