Minnesota Debt Collection: How to Garnish Wages

Step 1: Serve Notice of Garnishment

Before you garnish an individual’s earnings, you must serve the debtor, no less than ten days before you serve the garnishment summons, with a notice that a summons may be issued. Minn. Stat. § 571.924, subd. 1. That notice must be substantially in the statutory form titled “Garnishment Exemption Notice and Notice of Intent to Garnish Earnings,” and you may serve it personally, in the manner of a summons and complaint, or by first class mail to the debtor’s last known address. Minn. Stat. § 571.924, subd. 1.

The timing and content requirements for this notice are governed by section 571.924. The form of the notice itself appears at Minn. Stat. § 571.925, titled “Form of Notice,” which sets out the substance the ten-day notice must contain.

This notice is valid for one year. If you have not served the garnishment summons within one year after serving the notice, you must serve a new notice on the debtor before serving the garnishment summons on the employer. Minn. Stat. § 571.924, subd. 2.

The notice tells the debtor that a garnishment may be served on the debtor’s employer or other third parties, and that part of the debtor’s earnings can be taken to pay the debt in ten days or more after the debtor receives the notice, without any further court action or notice. Minn. Stat. § 571.925.

The notice also tells the debtor that some earnings are exempt: the debtor’s earnings cannot be taken if the debtor is receiving government assistance based on need, received such assistance within the last six months, or was an inmate of a correctional institution within the last six months. Minn. Stat. § 571.925.

The statutory form lists the specific need-based programs whose recipients qualify for the exemption, including the Minnesota Family Investment Program, the Diversionary Work Program, SNAP, General Assistance, Minnesota Supplemental Aid, Emergency Assistance, energy or fuel assistance, Medical Assistance, MinnesotaCare, help with Medicare Part B and Part D premiums, Supplemental Security Income, the federal Earned Income Tax Credit and Minnesota Working Family Credit, and the Renter’s Refund. Minn. Stat. § 571.925. The Legislature updated the form in 2025 to use plainer language and current program names, but the underlying exemptions did not change. Minn. Stat. § 571.925.

The exemption is not automatic. To claim it, the debtor must fill out the Exemption Claim Notice attached to the garnishment exemption notice, sign it, and send it back to you or your lawyer. The exemption claim does not go to the garnishee. Minn. Stat. § 571.925.

Even after the debtor claims an exemption, a levy may still be served on the employer. If earnings are taken after the debtor claims an exemption, the debtor may ask the court to review the exemption, and if the court finds that you disregarded a valid exemption claim in bad faith, the debtor is entitled to actual damages, costs, reasonable attorney fees, and an amount up to $100. Minn. Stat. § 571.925. That sanction runs both ways: a debtor who asserts an exemption in bad faith owes you the same actual damages, costs, reasonable attorney fees, and an amount up to $100. Minn. Stat. § 571.72, subd. 6.

If the debtor’s claimed exemption is disputed, it is resolved in a proceeding to determine the claim of exemption, brought under section 571.72, subdivision 9, section 571.91, or a similar proceeding under chapter 571. Minn. Stat. § 571.72, subd. 6.

If the debtor does not serve a signed statement claiming an exemption within the ten-day period, you may serve the garnishment summons on the debtor’s employer after those ten days. Minn. Stat. § 571.924, subd. 1.

Step 2: Garnishment Summons and Disclosure Form

To proceed with garnishment, you must serve the garnishee (the debtor’s employer in a wage garnishment) with a garnishment summons, and you must serve with it the applicable garnishment disclosure form. Minn. Stat. § 571.72, subd. 5.

Service reaches the employer and the debtor in two different ways. You serve the garnishee in the same manner as any other summons, or by certified mail (return receipt requested) at the garnishee’s regular place of business, but never by publication. Minn. Stat. § 571.72, subd. 2. You serve the debtor by ordinary first class mail, which is covered in Step 3 below.

If you disregard a claim of exemption that is later upheld, and the court finds that you did so in bad faith, the debtor is entitled to actual damages, costs, reasonable attorney fees, and an amount up to $100. Minn. Stat. § 571.72, subd. 6.

When you serve the employer with the garnishment summons, you must pay the garnishee a $15 fee at the time of service. Minn. Stat. § 571.76. Failure to pay the fee renders the garnishment void, and the garnishee is to take no action, so the fee is a hard prerequisite, not an incidental cost. Minn. Stat. § 571.76.

An example of a garnishment summons appears in Minn. Stat. § 571.74.

For an earnings garnishment, the employer must serve the completed earnings disclosure and earnings disclosure worksheet on both you and the debtor within ten days after the last payday to occur within the 90 days after you served the garnishment summons. Minn. Stat. § 571.75, subd. 1. For a garnishment on money or property other than earnings, the default deadline is within 20 days after service of the garnishment summons; the ten-day, 90-day earnings rule is the exception. Minn. Stat. § 571.75, subd. 1. The statute defines “payday” as the day the employer pays earnings in the ordinary course of business, or, if the debtor has no regular paydays, the 15th and last day of each month. Minn. Stat. § 571.75, subd. 1.

A sample earnings garnishment disclosure form appears in Minn. Stat. § 571.75.

Service of the garnishment summons, not a writ of execution, is what obligates the employer to retain the debtor’s nonexempt disposable earnings, and the employer need not retain more than 110 percent of the amount you claim in the garnishment summons. Minn. Stat. § 571.73, subd. 1. That obligation to retain is subject to the exceptions in section 571.73, subdivision 4, and Minn. Stat. § 571.79. Minn. Stat. § 571.73, subd. 1. There is no writ-of-execution step in Minnesota’s chapter 571 garnishment procedure; an execution levy is a separate remedy under chapter 550, discussed below.

The garnishment summons form instructs the employer that, by law, it cannot fire or discipline the debtor because the debtor’s earnings have been subject to garnishment. Minn. Stat. § 571.74.

The garnishment summons must state the debtor’s full name and last known mailing address, the amount of the claim that remains unpaid, and the date of entry of judgment against the debtor (or that the debtor is in default under Rule 55.01 of the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure). Minn. Stat. § 571.72, subd. 2.

If you are a debt collector, you must disclose that you are attempting to collect a debt and that any information obtained will be used for that purpose; this duty runs to a debt collector, not to an original creditor collecting its own debt, and it does not apply to a formal pleading made in connection with a legal action. 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(11). Minnesota enforces this Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requirement against collection agencies, debt buyers, and collectors, because a violation of the Act is also a violation of state law. Minn. Stat. § 332.37(12).

Step 3: More Notice of Garnishment to the Debtor

Within five days after you serve the garnishment summons on the employer, you must mail to the debtor, at the debtor’s last known mailing address, a copy of the garnishment summons and copies of all other papers served on the employer, including the earnings garnishment disclosure form. Service of the garnishment documents on the debtor is effective upon mailing. Minn. Stat. § 571.72, subd. 4.

You must also serve the debtor with a Notice to Debtor, which must be in no smaller than 14-point type. Minn. Stat. § 571.74. An example Notice to Debtor appears in Minn. Stat. § 571.74.

The Separate Remedy: Writ of Execution

Wage garnishment under chapter 571 is distinct from an execution levy on earnings under chapter 550. To collect a judgment by execution instead, you obtain a writ of execution directed to the sheriff, who levies on the employee’s earnings by serving the employer. Minn. Stat. § 550.136.

A writ of execution is issued under the seal of the court and subscribed (signed) by the court administrator, the office formerly called the clerk of court, directed to the county sheriff, and endorsed by the judgment creditor or the creditor’s attorney. Minn. Stat. § 550.04.

A writ of execution expires 180 days after the court administrator issues it, and a levy served with a writ that has already expired is void. Minn. Stat. § 550.051, subd. 1. A levy properly served before the writ expires, however, may be carried through to completion regardless of the expiration date, and on expiration or full satisfaction of the judgment the officer must inventory any property levied and return the writ. Minn. Stat. § 550.051, subd. 1.

For an execution levy on earnings, unless the judgment is for child support, the most that can be taken per pay period is the lesser of 25 percent of the debtor’s disposable earnings or the amount by which the debtor’s disposable earnings exceed 40 times the applicable minimum hourly wage. Minn. Stat. § 550.136, subd. 3.

If you need help collecting a judgment or responding to a garnishment, Aaron Hall’s debt collection practice works with Minnesota business owners on these issues.