Wisconsin earnings garnishment: 80% is exempt, and answering stops it

Wisconsin procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026

Wisconsin's earnings garnishment is a creditor-run process that mostly happens by form, not by court order. That cuts both ways. It starts without a judge, but it can also be stopped without one — by the debtor filling in an answer form and mailing it to the employer.

The employer is then required by statute to believe it.

Only 20% is reachable

Wis. Stat. § 812.34(2)(a):

Unless the court grants relief under s. 812.38 (2) or par. (b) or (c) applies, 80 percent of the debtor's disposable earnings are exempt from garnishment under this subchapter.

So the creditor's ceiling is 20% of disposable earnings — well below the 25% federal maximum.

Two provisions go further. § 812.34(2)(b) makes earnings totally exempt:

The debtor's earnings are totally exempt from garnishment under this subchapter if: 1. The debtor's household income is below the poverty line. 2. The debtor receives need-based public assistance, has received such assistance within 6 months prior to service of the earnings garnishment forms upon the garnishee or has been determined eligible to receive need-based assistance although actual receipt of benefits has not commenced.

Either condition alone is enough. Note how generous the second is — assistance received within the previous six months, or even a determination of eligibility before benefits have started.

And § 812.34(2)(c) protects the poverty line as a floor:

If the garnishment of 20 percent of the debtor's disposable income under this subchapter would result in the debtor's household income being below the poverty line, the amount of the garnishment is limited to the debtor's household income in excess of the poverty line before the garnishment is in effect.

Debtor's situation	What may be garnished
Ordinary case	20% of disposable earnings
Household income below the poverty line	nothing
Receiving, recently received, or eligible for need-based assistance	nothing
20% would push household income below the poverty line	only the excess over the poverty line

The judicial conference publishes the arithmetic. § 812.34(3) requires it to "adopt and make available schedules and worksheets to assist debtors in computing their eligibility for exemption", computed weekly, biweekly, semimonthly and monthly, and "revise those schedules annually to reflect changes in the poverty line." Revised schedules "shall take effect July 1 for earnings garnishments or extensions commencing thereafter."

Four debts these exemptions do not touch

§ 812.34(1) removes the exemptions entirely where the judgment debt:

(a) Was ordered by a court under s. 128.21 or by any court of the United States under 11 USC 1301 to 1330. (b) Is for the support of any person. (c) Is for unpaid taxes.

Support obligations and unpaid taxes are outside the scheme.

The answer form is the whole defence

§ 812.37(1):

Except as provided in s. 812.34 (1), the debtor may claim an exemption under s. 812.34 (2) (b) or a limit to the garnishment under s. 812.34 (2) (c), or may assert any defense to the earnings garnishment, by completing the answer form and delivering or mailing it to the garnishee. The debtor or debtor's spouse may file an answer or an amended answer at any time before or during the effective period of the earnings garnishment.

Three things worth noticing. The answer goes to the garnishee — the employer — not to the court. There is no deadline: it can be filed "at any time before or during the effective period." And the debtor's spouse may file it too.

Then § 812.37(3) gives it teeth:

Unless served with an order of the court directing otherwise, in determining whether to pay any part of the debtor's earnings to the creditor, the garnishee shall accept as true and binding any exemption claimed in the debtor's answer or any amended answer received before payment is made to the creditor under s. 812.39 (1).

The employer must accept the claimed exemption as true and binding. Not weigh it, not investigate it — accept it, unless a court order says otherwise. The statutory garnishment form tells employers exactly that: "If the debtor's answer form claims a complete exemption or defense, do not withhold or pay to the creditor any part of the debtor's earnings under this garnishment unless you receive an order of the court directing you to do so."

The employer must forward it: § 812.37(2) requires the garnishee to "mail a copy of the answer to the creditor by the end of the 3rd business day after receiving the debtor's answer, writing on that copy the date of receipt."

Thirteen weeks

The statutory form sets the duration:

The garnishment of earnings of other employees will affect the debtor's earnings for all pay periods beginning within 13 weeks after you receive it, unless the debtor's earnings are already being garnisheed.

With two exceptions in the same paragraph — garnishments against state and political-subdivision employees, and garnishments to satisfy an order for victim restitution, both of which "remain in effect until the judgment is satisfied."

Garnishments queue rather than stack. The form directs the employer: "If the debtor's earnings are already being garnisheed when you receive this earnings garnishment, place this earnings garnishment into effect the pay period after the last of any prior earnings garnishments terminates."

Payment runs on a schedule: "Between 5 and 10 business days after each payday of a pay period affected by this earnings garnishment, pay the creditor 20% of the debtor's disposable earnings for that pay period."

Support orders take priority: "If 25% or more of the debtor's disposable earnings is assigned for support by court order, do not pay any part of the debtor's earnings to the creditor."

Getting a judge involved

§ 812.38(1) lets either side go to court:

(a) The creditor may file with the court a motion for a hearing and a written objection to the debtor's answer. (b) The debtor may file with the court a written petition for relief from the earnings garnishment if the exemption percentage under s. 812.34 (2) (a) is insufficient for the debtor to acquire the necessities of life for the debtor and his or her dependents. The petition shall state with reasonable specificity the grounds for the relief requested and shall include any additional information necessary to support the petition. (c) Any party to the earnings garnishment may move the court to order any other party to comply with the provisions of this subchapter, or for other equitable relief.

So a debtor who is not below the poverty line but still cannot manage on 80% has a route under (b) — the standard is the necessities of life for the debtor and dependents.

§ 812.38(2) puts the court on a clock:

A motion or petition under sub. (1) may be made at any time during the pendency of the earnings garnishment. Within 5 business days after a motion or petition is filed under sub. (1), the court shall schedule the matter for a hearing to be held as promptly as practicable.

Bad faith cuts both ways

§ 812.38(3) is symmetrical and mandatory:

(a) If the court finds that the debtor's answer was asserted in bad faith, the court shall award the creditor actual damages, costs and reasonable attorney fees resulting from the additional proceedings. (b) If the court finds that the creditor objected to the debtor's answer in bad faith, the court shall award the debtor actual damages, costs and reasonable attorney fees resulting from the additional proceedings.

And § 812.44(1)(b) adds a penalty for form abuse: no party may use a form substantially different from the statutory ones or alter them misleadingly, and "If the court finds that a party has used a misleading form, the court shall award the aggrieved party actual damages, costs and reasonable attorney fees resulting from the additional proceeding."

How Wisconsin compares

	Wisconsin	Illinois	Federal floor
Maximum garnishable	20% of disposable earnings	lesser of 15% of gross or the 45× excess	25% of disposable
Total exemption below the poverty line	yes	no	no
Total exemption on need-based assistance	yes, incl. within the prior 6 months	no	no
Where the debtor's claim goes	to the employer	to the clerk of court	—
Deadline to claim	none — any time during the garnishment	on or before the return date	—
Employer must accept the claim as true	yes	no	—
Duration	13 weeks	continuing until paid	—
Mandatory fees for bad faith	both directions	no	—

A short checklist

Complete the answer form and mail or deliver it to your employer, not to the court. That alone can stop the deduction.
There is no deadline — an answer or amended answer can be filed at any time before or during the garnishment, and your spouse can file one too.
Check the total exemptions first: household income below the poverty line, or need-based assistance received now, within the last six months, or determined eligible.
Use the judicial conference's schedules and worksheets to compute eligibility; they are revised annually and take effect on 1 July.
If 20% still leaves too little, petition under § 812.38(1)(b) — the test is the necessities of life for you and your dependents, stated with reasonable specificity.
Expect a hearing to be scheduled within 5 business days of filing.
Employers: accept a claimed exemption as true and binding unless a court order says otherwise, and forward the answer to the creditor within 3 business days.
Remember the exemptions do not apply to support obligations, unpaid taxes, or debts ordered under ch. 128.21 or federal chapter 13.
Do not file an answer you cannot support. Bad faith on either side carries mandatory damages, costs and fees.

Where these rules live

This page explains what the statute says. It isn't legal advice, and the current poverty-line schedules adopted by the judicial conference under § 812.34(3) are published outside the statutes and are not reproduced here.

How this guide is sourced. Every procedural statement here is drawn from the text of the rules named above, each of which is reproduced verbatim on its own page on this site. Quoted rule language appears in quotation marks or block quotes; everything else is original writing. Last verified August 17, 2026.

This page explains what the rules say. It is legal information, not legal advice, and it cannot tell you how a rule applies to your situation. Deadlines are often short and some are not extendable — if the outcome matters, talk to a lawyer or your court’s self-help center.