An income execution is a court-authorized wage garnishment used in New York to collect on an unpaid money judgment. Under CPLR 5231, a judgment creditor can direct a sheriff or marshal to redirect a capped portion of your paycheck toward the debt, and the deduction continues until the judgment — including interest and fees — is paid in full.1New York State Senate. New York Code CVP 5231 – Income Execution
A Money Judgment Has to Come First
No one can start garnishing your wages in New York simply because you missed a payment or ignored an invoice. The creditor has to sue you, win, and have a court sign a money judgment setting the exact amount you owe. That judgment is what every later collection step rests on.
Once entered, the judgment is enforceable for 20 years.2NY Courts. Statute of Limitations Chart Interest keeps running the entire time. The statutory rate is 9% per year for most commercial judgments, but only 2% per year on consumer debt judgments against an individual, such as credit card or medical debt.3New York State Senate. New York Code CVP 5004 – Rate of Interest
How Much of Your Paycheck Can Be Taken
Both New York and federal law cap the deduction, and whichever formula produces the smaller amount is the one that applies.1New York State Senate. New York Code CVP 5231 – Income Execution For an ordinary commercial debt:
- New York limits the deduction to 10% of your gross income for the pay period.
- Federal law caps it at 25% of your disposable earnings for the week, or the amount by which your disposable earnings exceed 30 times the applicable minimum wage, whichever is less.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment
Disposable earnings are what remains after legally required deductions: federal and state income taxes, Social Security, and Medicare. Voluntary deductions like health insurance premiums or retirement contributions don’t come out before the calculation.
If your disposable earnings fall at or below 30 times the minimum wage for the week, nothing can be withheld at all. New York’s minimum wage is higher than the federal $7.25, so its floor protects more pay. In 2026, the minimum wage is $17.00 per hour in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester, and $16.00 per hour elsewhere in the state.5New York State Department of Labor. Your New York State Minimum Wage That puts the protected weekly floor at $510 in the downstate counties and $480 in the rest of New York. Weekly disposable earnings at or below those figures are off limits.
Support Orders and Tax Debts Follow Different Rules
Child support and alimony garnishments can reach much deeper. Federal law allows up to 50% of disposable earnings if you support another spouse or dependent child, and up to 60% if you don’t. Each ceiling rises by 5% — to 55% or 65% — if the arrears are more than 12 weeks old.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment Federal and state tax debts aren’t subject to the Consumer Credit Protection Act’s percentage caps.6eCFR. Maximum Garnishment Limitations
Income That Can’t Be Reached for Ordinary Debts
Federal law shields Social Security benefits from execution, levy, attachment, or garnishment for private debts.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 407 – Assignment of Benefits CPLR 5205 adds state-level protection for public assistance, Supplemental Security Income, unemployment benefits, and veterans’ disability payments.8New York State Senate. New York Code CVP 5205 – Personal Property Exempt From Application to the Satisfaction of Money Judgments
These protections aren’t absolute. Social Security benefits can still be garnished for child support, alimony, criminal restitution, federal tax debts, and certain other federal obligations.9Social Security Administration. Can My Social Security Benefits Be Garnished or Levied? And the exemption isn’t always applied automatically. If exempt income is being swept into a garnishment, you may have to file a claim of exemption with the court to get it stopped or reduced.
How Service Actually Works
New York’s income execution happens in two stages, and the first one gives you a chance to pay before your employer learns anything about it.1New York State Senate. New York Code CVP 5231 – Income Execution
Stage One: You Get Served
The creditor delivers the income execution to the sheriff or marshal in the county where you live. That officer serves you with the document, which spells out how much would be withheld and tells you how to challenge it. You then have 20 days to start making installment payments directly to the sheriff or marshal. Pay on time and the execution never reaches your employer.
Stage Two: Your Employer Gets Served
Miss the 20-day window and the sheriff serves the execution on your employer, who is then legally required to withhold the capped amount from each paycheck. The money goes to the sheriff, who adds a 5% poundage fee and forwards the balance to the creditor.
You Can’t Be Fired Over a Single Garnishment
Under the Consumer Credit Protection Act, an employer can’t fire you because your wages are being garnished for any one debt. Violating that rule carries a fine of up to $1,000, up to a year in prison, or both.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1674 – Restriction on Discharge From Employment by Reason of Garnishment The protection covers garnishment for one debt. It doesn’t apply when your wages are being garnished for two or more separate debts.
When You Owe More Than One Creditor
Multiple creditors with judgments don’t get to stack deductions on top of each other. The total withheld from your paycheck still can’t exceed the applicable maximum, generally 25% of disposable earnings for ordinary debts.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment The Consumer Credit Protection Act caps the total but doesn’t set priority among competing garnishments; state law decides who gets paid first.11eCFR. 29 CFR Part 870 – Restriction on Garnishment Child support and alimony orders come ahead of commercial debts, and a support order can consume the entire available amount, leaving nothing for other creditors. Tax levies are also outside the normal percentage limits and take priority when served.
How to Challenge or Stop It
Getting served with an income execution isn’t the end of the conversation. CPLR 5231 and CPLR 5240 both give you ways to push back.
Claim an Exemption
If the money being reached is exempt income — Social Security, SSI, public assistance, unemployment, veterans’ disability — file a claim of exemption with the court. Expect to show proof: benefit award letters, bank statements tracing deposits to their source. The creditor can respond, and the court may hold a hearing.
Ask for a Hardship Reduction
Even when your income isn’t exempt, CPLR 5240 lets the court lower the withholding if the current amount keeps you from covering basic living expenses for yourself and your dependents. Courts look at documented expenses against income from all sources. If the judge is persuaded, the deduction can be reset to something you can actually live with.
File for Bankruptcy
A bankruptcy petition triggers an automatic stay under federal law that halts most collection activity, including an active wage garnishment.12United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Missouri. Automatic Stay A creditor who keeps garnishing after notice of the filing can be sanctioned. The stay holds while the case is pending, though the bankruptcy court can lift it in certain situations.
Attack the Underlying Judgment
If the judgment itself shouldn’t have been entered — for example, if you were never properly served with the original lawsuit — you may be able to move to vacate it. Vacating the judgment pulls the legal floor out from under the income execution. Time limits depend on the grounds for the motion, so moving quickly matters.