A garnishment is an order of a court to an employer (the garnishee) to withhold a sum of money from an employee's earnings for payment of a debt. In New York, garnishments are called income executions. State law draws a distinction between income executions for support obligations and income executions for other kinds of debts.
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Download Now There are numerous state and federal laws pertaining to garnishment. Where state law is more restrictive than federal law (i.e., by protecting a greater amount of salary from garnishment), state law will govern. Specific state laws include NY Civil Practice Law Sec. 5241 et seq., concerning income executions for support, and Sec. 5231et seq., concerning income executions for other kinds of debts.
Garnishment is an involuntary procedure in which a court requires an employer to make deductions from an employee's wages in order to repay debts that the employee has not repaid voluntarily. An assignment of earnings is a transaction that an employee enters voluntarily.