Garnishment
A collection device, available before or after judgment, by which a creditor reaches the debtor's property held by a third party (the garnishee), most commonly bank accounts and accounts receivable. Texas garnishment is governed by Tex. R. Civ. P. 657-679b and Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ch. 63. Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 28 bars garnishment of current wages except to enforce court-ordered child support or spousal maintenance. Federal law separately allows some wage collection, such as IRS levies and administrative garnishment for federal student loans.
Garnishment is a collection device, available before or after judgment, by which a creditor reaches property of the debtor that is in the possession of a third party (the "garnishee"). The most common targets are bank accounts (held by the debtor's bank) and accounts receivable (held by the debtor's customers). The Texas Constitution (Article XVI, Section 28) bars garnishment of current wages except to enforce court-ordered child support or spousal maintenance. Federal collection remedies, such as IRS levies and administrative garnishment for federal student loans, operate separately.
Pre-judgment vs. post-judgment garnishment
Texas allows both pre-judgment and post-judgment garnishment, with different prerequisites: (1) pre-judgment requires a sworn affidavit showing the debt is just, due, and unpaid; the defendant has not, within the creditor's knowledge, sufficient property within the state subject to execution; and the garnishment is not sought to injure the defendant or garnishee. Pre-judgment garnishment requires a written court order after a hearing, which may be ex parte, with specific findings, and a bond (Rules 658, 658a). (2) Post-judgment requires a valid, subsisting judgment and an affidavit that, within the plaintiff's knowledge, the defendant does not possess property in Texas subject to execution sufficient to satisfy it (§ 63.001(3)). No bond is required, and the judgment is treated as final for garnishment from the date it is signed unless superseded (Rule 657). Most commercial garnishment is post-judgment.
The constitutional wage prohibition
Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 28 provides: "No current wages for personal service shall ever be subject to garnishment, except for the enforcement of court-ordered: (1) child support payments; or (2) spousal maintenance." Federal law separately permits wage collection in some settings, including continuing IRS levies on wages (26 U.S.C. § 6331(e)) and administrative wage garnishment for federal student loans (20 U.S.C. § 1095a). Wages "currently due" are protected; once paid into a bank account, the funds become subject to garnishment as bank deposits (with exemption-tracing complications).
Bank account garnishment
Bank account garnishment is the workhorse of Texas commercial collection. The judgment creditor: (1) files a sworn application identifying the judgment, the debtor, and the bank as garnishee; (2) the court issues a writ of garnishment served on the bank; (3) upon service, the bank freezes the debtor's account up to the judgment amount; (4) the bank files a sworn answer stating what it owes or holds for the debtor (Rule 665), and the debtor is served with the writ and the required notice (Rule 663a); (5) the court enters judgment against the bank for the disclosed funds (less exemptions). The frozen funds are paid to the creditor in satisfaction or partial satisfaction of the underlying judgment.
Accounts receivable garnishment
Accounts receivable garnishment reaches amounts owed to the debtor by its customers. Procedurally similar to bank garnishment, but the customer must determine and disclose what amounts are owed. Effective for capturing in-flight payment obligations, but typically reaches only specific identifiable receivables, not future amounts that will become owing. Sophisticated debtors can drain receivables through accelerated billing or factoring before garnishment service; speed matters.
Exemptions and traceability
Garnished property remains subject to exemption claims, including the personal property exemptions in Tex. Prop. Code Ch. 42 (among them current wages under § 42.001(b)(1) and qualified retirement accounts under § 42.0021). An individual debtor whose property is frozen after judgment must be served with the Notice of Protected Property Rights and a Protected Property Claim Form (Rule 679b), and may move to dissolve or modify the writ (Rule 664a). Exemption tracing on bank accounts is complex: funds deposited from exempt sources (Social Security, retirement) retain their exempt status if traceable, but commingling with non-exempt funds creates evidentiary disputes.
Multi-state considerations
For interstate enforcement, the judgment creditor typically domesticates the foreign judgment under the Texas Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ch. 35) before garnishing Texas-located assets. Out-of-state debtor with Texas bank accounts: the writ is issued by a Texas court, and service on a financial institution is governed by Tex. Fin. Code § 59.008, which generally requires delivery to the registered-agent address the institution has filed with the secretary of state (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 63.008). Out-of-state bank accounts are reached through garnishment in the bank's home state.
Bank-account garnishment is a common post-judgment collection tool in Texas, often used alongside turnover and execution. Disputes tend to center on which institutions hold the debtor's funds, the timing and place of service, and exemption and tracing claims. The constitutional and statutory protection for current wages limits garnishment of an individual's pay. Wages already deposited raise separate questions.