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. The state of South Dakota draws a distinction between garnishments for support obligations and those for other debts.
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Download Now There are numerous state and federal laws pertaining to garnishment. Where state laws are more restrictive than federal law (i.e., by protecting a greater amount of salary from garnishment), then state laws will govern.
Earnings that may be garnished are any compensation paid or payable for personal services, whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus, or otherwise, and includes periodic payments pursuant to a pension or retirement program.
Employer's fee. An employer may withhold an additional $3 from the wages for each withholding to cover administrative costs.
Garnishment vs. assignment of wages. Garnishment and assignment of wages are both methods of deducting money from an employee's salary to repay his or her debts. Garnishment is an involuntary procedure that is usually conducted because an employee has not paid his or her debts voluntarily. Assignment of wages can be either voluntary or involuntary. Additional information on assignment of wages is available.
An order for family support may include child support, health insurance, alimony and, in some cases, all of them.
The order for withholding family support income shall direct the employer to withhold:
• An amount equal to the order for support
• An additional amount not less than 10 percent of the order for support, until payment in full of any delinquency
Support procedures. The Division of Child Support has the authority to issue a withholding order to ...