# Wage garnishment in Florida: procedure for judgment creditors

> How a judgment creditor garnishes wages in Florida: the post-judgment motion and continuing writ under chapter 77, the deadlines that run from service on the garnishee and the defendant, the head-of-family exemption in Fla. Stat. § 222.11, and the federal CCPA floor beneath it.

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- Updated: 2026-09-01
- Status: in attorney review. Served noindex and excluded from the sitemap; do not cite as settled.

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After judgment, the creditor moves for a continuing writ of garnishment against salary or wages under Fla. Stat. § 77.0305; the employer must answer within 20 days of service (§ 77.04). The controlling exemption is the head-of-family rule in § 222.11: disposable earnings of $750 a week or less cannot be touched at all.

## Key facts

- The post-judgment motion states the amount of the judgment and is not verified; the writ may issue before or after the return of execution (Fla. Stat. § 77.03).
- For salary or wages the court issues a continuing writ to the employer, paying periodically until the judgment is satisfied (§ 77.0305).
- The garnishee must serve an answer within 20 days after service of the writ, plus up to one business day to act on it (§ 77.04).
- All disposable earnings of a head of family at or below $750 a week are exempt; above that, garnishment requires a signed written waiver (§ 222.11(2)).
- Earnings of a non-head-of-family are capped by the federal CCPA: the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the excess over 30 times minimum wage (15 U.S.C. § 1673).
- Judgment interest runs at a rate the Chief Financial Officer resets quarterly: the averaged federal discount rate plus 400 basis points (§ 55.03).

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## The instrument: a motion, a writ, and — for wages — a continuing writ

Florida garnishment is statutory from end to end, and it starts smaller than most practitioners expect. After judgment, the creditor files a motion “stating the amount of the judgment,” and the statute says what the motion is not: it “shall not be verified or negative defendant’s exemptions.” Fla. Stat. § 77.03. The writ may issue “either before or after the return of execution,” so there is no need to run an execution to failure first.

For wages the operative instrument is the continuing writ. Section 77.0305 directs that where salary or wages are to be garnished, “the court shall issue a continuing writ of garnishment to the judgment debtor’s employer which provides for the periodic payment of a portion of the salary or wages of the judgment debtor as the salary or wages become due until the judgment is satisfied or until otherwise provided by court order.” One writ, served once, that keeps paying — the Florida counterpart of Georgia’s continuing garnishment and New York’s income execution. The same section waives sovereign immunity for the limited purpose of garnishing the wages of state employees, which matters in a portfolio with public-sector obligors.

One cost item belongs in the checklist before the writ goes out: on the garnishee’s demand at any time after service, the party applying for any writ must pay the garnishee $100 toward the attorney fee the garnishee expends in responding (§ 77.28), and the garnishee’s costs and a reasonable fee are determined at final judgment.

## Who serves whom, and the deadlines that run from service

The writ goes to the garnishee, and the garnishee’s clock is 20 days: the writ “shall require the garnishee to serve an answer on the plaintiff within 20 days after service of the writ,” covering indebtedness at service, at answer, and at any time between, “plus up to 1 business day for the garnishee to act expeditiously on the writ” (§ 77.04).

The defendant’s notice runs on its own clock. For an individual defendant, the clerk attaches a statutory “Notice to Defendant” to the writ (§ 77.041(1)), and the plaintiff must mail the writ, the motion, and that notice to the defendant’s last known address “within 5 business days after the writ is issued or 3 business days after the writ is served on the garnishee, whichever is later” — with a fallback to the defendant’s place of employment if the mailing comes back undeliverable, and a certificate of service filed either way (§ 77.041(2)).

After the answer, § 77.055 adds a third clock: within 5 days after the garnishee’s answer is served (or after its time expires), the plaintiff serves a copy of the answer together with a notice that the recipient must move to dissolve the writ within 20 days if any allegation in the motion is untrue — on the defendant’s last known address and on anyone the answer discloses.

The deadline that bites plaintiffs hardest is the exemption response. When the defendant files a sworn claim of exemption and request for hearing, the plaintiff must answer it with a sworn written statement within 8 business days if the claim was hand delivered or 14 business days if mailed (§ 77.041(3)). The statutory notice tells the defendant what happens otherwise, in the statute’s own words: “If the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney fails to file an objection, no hearing is required, the writ of garnishment will be dissolved and your wages, money, or property will be released.” A firm running wage garnishment at volume needs that response wired into its deadline engine, not its tickler file.

## The exemption math: the head-of-family rule sits on top of the federal floor

Two regimes stack. The federal Consumer Credit Protection Act sets the floor for everyone: garnishment of an individual’s aggregate disposable earnings for a workweek “may not exceed (1) 25 per centum of his disposable earnings for that week, or (2) the amount by which his disposable earnings for that week exceed thirty times the Federal minimum hourly wage” — whichever is less (15 U.S.C. § 1673(a)). At the current $7.25 federal minimum, thirty times is $217.50.

Florida then goes much further for a “head of family” — “any natural person who is providing more than one-half of the support for a child or other dependent” (§ 222.11(1)(c)). The rule is absolute at the bottom: “All of the disposable earnings of a head of family whose disposable earnings are less than or equal to $750 a week are exempt from attachment or garnishment” (§ 222.11(2)(a)). Above $750 a week, garnishment is possible only if the debtor “has agreed otherwise in writing,” and the waiver formalities are strict: a separate document attached to the contract, written in the contract’s own language, in at least 14-point type in substantially the statutory form — and even a valid waiver is still capped by the CCPA (§ 222.11(2)(b)). For a person who is not a head of family, § 222.11(2)(c) simply hands the math to federal law.

The exemption also follows the money into the bank: earnings exempt under § 222.11(2) that are deposited in a financial institution remain exempt for 6 months “if the funds can be traced and properly identified as earnings,” and commingling alone does not defeat the tracing (§ 222.11(3)). A bank writ against a head of family is therefore frequently answered by the same exemption the wage writ would have met.

One federal protection applies whichever way the math comes out: an employer may not discharge an employee “by reason of the fact that his earnings have been subjected to garnishment for any one indebtedness” (15 U.S.C. § 1674(a)).

## Interest while the writ runs

A continuing writ pays out over months or years, so the payoff figure is a moving target. Under § 55.03, the Chief Financial Officer sets the judgment interest rate each quarter “by averaging the discount rate of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the preceding 12 months, then adding 400 basis points.” This guide deliberately does not state the current number — it changes quarterly and is published by the CFO — but the mechanism means a payoff computed at issuance is stale by the second answer cycle. Recompute the balance, including accrued interest, whenever funds are disbursed and before filing the satisfaction.

## What is still unresolved

Three things this guide states less than fully, on purpose. First, how head-of-family status is proven — the claim form and hearing procedure are in § 77.041, but the burden of proof and the evidentiary standard at the hearing are case-law questions this guide does not reach. Second, priority: the interaction between a continuing writ under § 77.0305 and a support income deduction order is stated here only at the level of the federal caps in 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b); Florida’s own ordering rules were not verified from an official source for this guide. Third, the quarterly interest rate itself, which must be read from the CFO’s current publication, not from anything printed here. Every statement of Florida law above awaits attorney review before this page is published.

## Primary sources

1. [Fla. Stat. § 77.03](https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0077/Sections/0077.03.html) — Issuance of the writ after judgment — the unverified motion (Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine))
   > After judgment has been obtained against defendant but before the writ of garnishment is issued, the plaintiff, the plaintiff’s agent or attorney, shall file a motion (which shall not be verified or negative defendant’s exemptions) stating the amount of the judgment.
1. [Fla. Stat. § 77.0305](https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0077/Sections/0077.0305.html) — Continuing writ of garnishment against salary or wages (Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine))
   > the court shall issue a continuing writ of garnishment to the judgment debtor’s employer which provides for the periodic payment of a portion of the salary or wages of the judgment debtor as the salary or wages become due until the judgment is satisfied or until otherwise provided by court order
1. [Fla. Stat. § 77.04](https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0077/Sections/0077.04.html) — The garnishee’s 20-day answer window (Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine))
   > The writ shall require the garnishee to serve an answer on the plaintiff within 20 days after service of the writ stating whether the garnishee is indebted to the defendant at the time of the answer, or was indebted at the time of service of the writ, plus up to 1 business day for the garnishee to act expeditiously on the writ, or at any time between such times
1. [Fla. Stat. § 77.041](https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0077/Sections/0077.041.html) — Notice to an individual defendant, the mailing deadline, and the exemption-claim procedure (Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine))
   > The plaintiff must mail, by first class, a copy of the writ of garnishment, a copy of the motion for writ of garnishment, and, if the defendant is an individual, the “Notice to Defendant” to the defendant’s last known address within 5 business days after the writ is issued or 3 business days after the writ is served on the garnishee, whichever is later.
1. [Fla. Stat. § 77.055](https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0077/Sections/0077.055.html) — Service of the garnishee’s answer and the 20-day dissolution notice (Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine))
   > Within 5 days after service of the garnishee’s answer on the plaintiff or after the time period for the garnishee’s answer has expired, the plaintiff shall serve, by mail, the following documents: a copy of the garnishee’s answer, and a notice advising the recipient that he or she must move to dissolve the writ of garnishment within 20 days after the date indicated on the certificate of service in the notice if any allegation in the plaintiff’s motion for writ of garnishment is untrue.
1. [Fla. Stat. § 222.11(2)(a)](https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0200-0299/0222/Sections/0222.11.html) — The head-of-family exemption — the $750-a-week absolute floor (Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine))
   > All of the disposable earnings of a head of family whose disposable earnings are less than or equal to $750 a week are exempt from attachment or garnishment.
1. [Fla. Stat. § 222.11(3)](https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0200-0299/0222/Sections/0222.11.html) — Exempt earnings stay exempt for six months after deposit, if traceable (Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine))
   > Earnings that are exempt under subsection (2) and are credited or deposited in any financial institution are exempt from attachment or garnishment for 6 months after the earnings are received by the financial institution if the funds can be traced and properly identified as earnings.
1. [Fla. Stat. § 77.28](https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0077/Sections/0077.28.html) — The $100 payment toward the garnishee’s attorney fee (Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine))
   > Upon issuance of any writ of garnishment, the party applying for it shall pay $100 to the garnishee on the garnishee’s demand at any time after the service of the writ for the payment or part payment of his or her attorney fee which the garnishee expends or agrees to expend in obtaining representation in response to the writ.
1. [Fla. Stat. § 55.03(1)](https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0055/Sections/0055.03.html) — Judgment interest — the CFO’s quarterly rate (Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine))
   > by averaging the discount rate of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the preceding 12 months, then adding 400 basis points to the averaged federal discount rate
1. [15 U.S.C. § 1673(a)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1673) — The federal CCPA garnishment ceiling (Cornell Legal Information Institute (U.S. Code))
   > (1) 25 per centum of his disposable earnings for that week, or (2) the amount by which his disposable earnings for that week exceed thirty times the Federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by section 206(a)(1) of title 29 in effect at the time the earnings are payable, whichever is less
1. [15 U.S.C. § 1674(a)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1674) — No discharge for garnishment on one indebtedness (Cornell Legal Information Institute (U.S. Code))
   > No employer may discharge any employee by reason of the fact that his earnings have been subjected to garnishment for any one indebtedness.

## Related

- [Operational guides for collections law firms](https://ottoforfirms.com/guides/) — How to actually do the work: validation requests, call frequency, bureau disputes, filing packages, bank questionnaires, scrubs and e-filing — each cited to primary sources.
- [Wage garnishment in Georgia: the continuing garnishment](https://ottoforfirms.com/guides/wage-garnishment-georgia/) — How a judgment creditor garnishes wages in Georgia: the affidavit and summons of continuing garnishment under O.C.G.A. Title 18, Chapter 4, the 1,095-day garnishment period, the 30-to-45-day answer windows, and the hard-coded exemption formula in § 18-4-5 — quoted from the enrolled 2020 Act, because Georgia serves no stable public text of its code.
- [Wage garnishment in Texas: why the answer is a bank writ](https://ottoforfirms.com/guides/wage-garnishment-texas/) — Why Texas judgment creditors do not garnish wages — Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 28 exempts current wages except court-ordered support — and what works instead: the chapter 63 writ against the debtor’s bank, Rule 663a service and the 2022 protected-property notices, the turnover statute, and post-judgment interest under Fin. Code § 304.003.
- [Wage garnishment in New York: the CPLR 5231 income execution](https://ottoforfirms.com/guides/wage-garnishment-new-york/) — How a New York judgment creditor reaches wages: the CPLR 5231 income execution, its 10%-of-gross ceiling inside 25%-of-disposable caps, the two-stage service by sheriff or New York City marshal, priority against other executions and support orders, and the 2% consumer-debt judgment interest rate.
- [What documents you need to file suit on a credit-card debt](https://ottoforfirms.com/guides/documents-to-file-suit/) — The evidence a collections firm needs in hand before a credit-card complaint goes out: chain of title, account-level documentation, the signed agreement and its alternatives, affidavit requirements, and how proof expectations differ across Florida, Georgia, Texas and New York.
- [Statute of limitations on consumer debt, by state](https://ottoforfirms.com/statute-of-limitations/) — Limitations periods for all fifty states and DC, each cited to the state's own code.

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This is an informational reference, not legal advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. Limitations periods turn on facts this page cannot know — which state's law governs, the contract type, when the claim accrued, and whether anything tolled or revived it. Confirm against the primary source and your own counsel before acting.