Nevada Wage Garnishment Laws
Nevada caps wage garnishment more tightly than most states. Under NRS 31.295 a judgment creditor may take only the lesser of a sliding percentage of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable pay exceeds fifty times the federal minimum wage, a floor that protects more of a worker’s check than the federal thirty-times standard. This guide breaks down the eighteen-percent and twenty-five-percent tiers, the exempt weekly floor, the writ procedure and the garnishee’s twenty-day answer, the debtor’s claim of exemption, and the support and tax carve-outs. It also explains the practical wall every Nevada creditor hits first: a garnishment is worthless until you know exactly where the debtor works.
The Short Version
In Nevada, a creditor with a money judgment can garnish wages, but NRS 31.295 limits the bite to the lesser of two numbers: a percentage of disposable earnings, or the amount by which weekly disposable pay tops fifty times the federal minimum wage. The percentage is tiered, eighteen percent if the debtor’s gross weekly wage was seven hundred seventy dollars or less when the writ issued, twenty-five percent if it was more. Because Nevada uses a fifty-times floor instead of the federal thirty-times floor, more of every paycheck is shielded, and earners near the floor may be untouchable. Child support, spousal support, bankruptcy orders, and tax debts ignore these caps and reach further. The catch for any creditor is mechanical: the writ is served on the employer, so the entire remedy collapses if you do not know where the debtor works. That is the locate we handle, and for a legitimate judgment, a verified employer and address typically come back within 24 hours.
Watch: Nevada Garnishment Basics
How the caps work and why the employer is everything.
Watch Overview
How Much Nevada Lets You Take
The two-number test at the heart of NRS 31.295.
Nevada’s wage-garnishment ceiling lives in NRS 31.295, and it works as a “lesser of” test applied each workweek. The garnishable amount is the smaller of two figures. The first is a percentage of disposable earnings, which the statute defines as the part of a person’s earnings remaining after any amounts the law requires to be withheld, meaning federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare, not voluntary deductions like a retirement contribution or a health-plan buy-up. The second figure is the amount by which those weekly disposable earnings exceed fifty times the federal minimum hourly wage set under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Whichever number is lower is what the creditor gets that week.
The percentage half of the test is itself tiered by income, which is the feature that trips up creditors used to a flat federal model. If the debtor’s gross weekly salary or wage on the date the most recent writ issued was seven hundred seventy dollars or less, the cap is eighteen percent of disposable earnings. If the gross weekly figure exceeded seven hundred seventy dollars, the cap rises to twenty-five percent. Note the trigger is gross weekly pay measured at the moment the writ was issued, while the percentage is then applied to disposable earnings, so the two halves of the calculation use different bases. Getting that wrong is one of the most common employer payroll errors in Nevada garnishments.
That twenty-five-percent ceiling matches the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act maximum at 15 U.S.C. 1673, so on its face Nevada looks like a federal-equivalent state. The real difference is the floor, and that is where Nevada is meaningfully more protective.
The Fifty-Times Exempt Floor
Why a Nevada paycheck is harder to reach than a federal one.
The federal floor under 15 U.S.C. 1673 shields the first thirty times the federal minimum wage in weekly disposable earnings from ordinary garnishment. Nevada rejects that number and substitutes fifty times the federal minimum wage. At the current federal minimum of seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour, the federal floor protects roughly two hundred seventeen dollars and fifty cents of weekly disposable pay, while Nevada protects three hundred sixty-two dollars and fifty cents. That gap, nearly one hundred forty-five dollars a week more shielded, is the single most important thing a creditor needs to understand about garnishing wages in this state.
Read literally, the floor means no creditor can garnish in a way that leaves the debtor with less than three hundred sixty-two dollars and fifty cents of disposable earnings per week. For a lower-wage worker, the floor frequently bites before the percentage cap does, and the practical result is that earners hovering near that line may be effectively judgment-proof on wages even though a percentage calculation would suggest something is collectible. A creditor who budgets a recovery on the eighteen-percent number without checking it against the fifty-times floor will routinely overestimate what a writ actually yields.
One clarification worth making, because competing pages get it wrong: the fifty-times floor in NRS 31.295 is keyed to the federal minimum wage, not Nevada’s higher state minimum wage. Nevada’s state minimum wage, twelve dollars an hour as of this writing, raises take-home pay and therefore changes which side of the seven-hundred-seventy-dollar threshold a worker lands on, but it does not change the fifty-times exemption formula itself. The exempt floor moves only if Congress raises the federal minimum, or if the Nevada Legislature amends the statute.
Worked Examples
The lesser-of test, run against real weekly numbers.
A lower-wage worker
Suppose a debtor grosses six hundred dollars a week, below the seven-hundred-seventy-dollar threshold, so the eighteen-percent tier applies. Assume disposable earnings of five hundred dollars after required withholding. Eighteen percent of five hundred dollars is ninety dollars. Now run the floor: disposable earnings of five hundred dollars exceed the three-hundred-sixty-two-dollar-and-fifty-cent floor by one hundred thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents. The creditor takes the lesser of the two, ninety dollars that week. Notice that under the federal thirty-times floor more of this check would have been exposed, so the same worker keeps more in Nevada.
A near-floor worker
Now suppose disposable earnings of just four hundred dollars a week. Eighteen percent of four hundred is seventy-two dollars. But the floor leaves only the amount above three hundred sixty-two dollars and fifty cents exposed, which is thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents. The lesser number, thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents, is all the creditor gets, roughly half what the percentage alone implied. Drop disposable pay to the floor itself and the garnishable amount is zero, which is why a single low-wage debtor can generate a writ that returns nothing week after week even though the judgment remains fully valid.
A higher earner
Take a debtor grossing one thousand two hundred dollars a week, above the threshold, so the twenty-five-percent tier applies, with disposable earnings of nine hundred dollars. Twenty-five percent of nine hundred dollars is two hundred twenty-five dollars. The floor exposes everything above three hundred sixty-two dollars and fifty cents, which is far more than two hundred twenty-five dollars, so here the percentage governs and the creditor takes two hundred twenty-five dollars. For higher earners the percentage cap usually controls; for lower earners the fifty-times floor usually controls. Knowing which one binds in a given case is the whole game.
Nevada vs. Federal Garnishment
Where the two regimes line up and where Nevada pulls ahead on debtor protection.
| Rule | Federal (CCPA, 15 U.S.C. 1673) | Nevada (NRS 31.295) | What It Means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage cap | Up to 25 percent of disposable earnings. | 18 percent if gross weekly wage was 770 dollars or less; 25 percent if more. | Nevada adds a lower-income tier that shields more for modest earners. |
| Exempt floor | 30 times the federal minimum wage per week. | 50 times the federal minimum wage per week. | Nevada protects far more of each check; near-floor earners may be untouchable. |
| Floor in dollars | About 217 dollars and 50 cents weekly disposable. | About 362 dollars and 50 cents weekly disposable. | Roughly 145 dollars more is shielded every week in Nevada. |
| Disposable earnings | Pay after legally required withholding. | Same definition; required deductions only. | Voluntary deductions do not lower the garnishable base. |
| Support and taxes | Higher limits apply; ordinary caps do not protect. | NRS 31.295 caps do not apply to support, bankruptcy, or tax debts. | These obligations reach deeper than ordinary judgments. |
| Garnishee answer | No single federal deadline. | Garnishee must answer interrogatories within 20 days of service. | The employer is on a tight clock once served. |
The headline takeaway: Nevada matches the federal twenty-five-percent ceiling but adds a more generous income tier and a far higher exempt floor. For a creditor, that means the realistic recovery from a single Nevada writ is often smaller than a back-of-the-envelope percentage suggests, which makes reaching the right wages, the debtor’s actual current employer, even more important than the math.
The Nevada Writ Procedure
From judgment to a deduction landing on a paycheck.
Wage garnishment in Nevada is a post-judgment remedy, so the sequence starts only after a creditor already holds a money judgment. With that in hand, the creditor applies to the court for a writ of garnishment, which is then served, along with the statutory interrogatories and a notice of execution, on the garnishee, the person or company believed to hold the debtor’s money. For a wage garnishment, the garnishee is the debtor’s employer. This is the structural fact that makes the entire remedy depend on accurate employer information.
Once served, the employer-garnishee must answer the interrogatories within twenty days, stating under oath whether it employs the debtor, what it owes in wages, and what it will withhold. An employer that ignores the writ exposes itself to a default judgment for the amount demanded, so served employers generally comply promptly. The garnishment then operates as a continuing levy against the debtor’s earnings: in Nevada a wage writ remains in effect for one hundred twenty days from service, after which the creditor must obtain a fresh writ to keep collecting against the same employer.
On the debtor’s side, the law builds in a defense. After being served with notice of the writ, a judgment debtor may file a claim of exemption with the court and serve it on the sheriff, garnishee, and creditor, asserting that some or all of the targeted earnings are protected, whether by the fifty-times floor, the percentage cap, or another statutory exemption. The creditor can object, and the court resolves the dispute. Throughout, the exempt floor is automatic; the claim-of-exemption process exists to correct over-withholding and to assert exemptions the payroll calculation missed.
Two timing facts sit underneath all of this and decide whether a wage garnishment is even available. First, the underlying judgment has to be alive. A Nevada money judgment is generally enforceable for six years and can be renewed for another six-year term before it lapses, so a creditor who lets a judgment go stale loses the right to issue any writ at all until it is renewed. Second, the one-hundred-twenty-day life of each wage writ means collection on a larger balance is a repeating cycle, not a single event: the creditor obtains a writ, collects the capped weekly amount for up to one hundred twenty days, then re-issues to continue. Across that cycle, every re-issuance is once again served on the employer, so an employer change mid-collection forces a fresh locate before the next writ can land. The remedy is slow by design, which is exactly why naming the correct garnishee the first time, and keeping that information current, separates creditors who actually recover from those who churn paper.
Where the Caps Do Not Apply
The obligations that reach past NRS 31.295.
Child & Spousal Support
Support orders bypass the NRS 31.295 caps and reach a much larger share of disposable earnings under separate state and federal limits.
State & Federal Taxes
Tax debts are not bound by the ordinary percentage cap or the fifty-times floor; taxing authorities collect under their own rules.
Bankruptcy Orders
Court orders entered under a bankruptcy proceeding are excepted from the statute’s garnishment limitations.
Multiple Creditors
The caps limit the total taken, not the number of writs; competing creditors generally collect in the order their writs attach.
The Federal Backstop
Where state and federal limits differ, the rule more protective of the debtor controls, so neither cap can be exceeded.
Anti-Retaliation
Federal law bars an employer from firing a worker over a single debt’s garnishment, a protection creditors should not expect to disrupt.
When several creditors target the same paycheck, the order of priority matters more than the aggregate cap, because the protected floor and the percentage ceiling limit the total that can leave the check, not the count of writs chasing it. A later creditor may find that an earlier writ has already consumed the entire collectible margin. The practical lesson is the same one that runs through this whole page: timing and accuracy in identifying the wage source decide who actually recovers. For the full state-by-state picture, see our wage garnishment laws by state overview.
The Real Bottleneck: Finding the Employer
A perfect writ served on the wrong place collects nothing.
Everything above assumes the creditor knows where the debtor works. In practice that assumption is where most Nevada garnishments stall. A wage writ is only as good as the garnishee named on it, and if the employer information is wrong, stale, or unknown, the writ either bounces back as “not employed here” or never gets served at all. Debtors change jobs, work through staffing agencies, get paid by a parent company under a different legal name, or move between Las Vegas, Reno, and out of state, and the employer listed on a months-old credit application is frequently no longer accurate.
This is where a lawful locate earns its keep. As a public-records research firm, we identify a debtor’s current employer and verify the right legal entity and service address to name on the writ, so the garnishee answer comes back as a live employment relationship rather than a dead end. Our guide to finding an employer for wage garnishment walks through the signals we work from, and the same locate that names the employer often surfaces other collectible assets. Garnishing wages is rarely the only move: it pairs with bank-account levies, which become relevant once you understand Nevada’s asset exemptions for creditors, and with timing against the Nevada debt-collection statute of limitations, since a judgment that has lapsed cannot support a writ in the first place.
We do not collect the debt or serve the writ ourselves; we are not a collection agency or a law firm. What we deliver is the verified locate that makes the legal machinery work, the current employer, the correct entity, and a confirmed address, gathered through lawful skip tracing for creditors and counsel with a permissible purpose.
From Judgment to Withholding
How we turn an unknown wage source into a serveable garnishee.
Send What You Know
The judgment debtor’s name, last known address, date of birth, a prior employer, or relatives, whatever you hold becomes the starting point.
We Locate the Employer
The current employer and income picture are rebuilt from public records and licensed databases, then matched to the correct legal entity.
We Verify the Garnishee
The employer’s exact legal name and service address are confirmed so the writ names a live employment relationship, not a stale one.
You File and Serve
Your counsel or the sheriff serves the writ on the verified garnishee, who must answer within twenty days, and withholding begins.
Who We Help in Nevada
We do the locate; you run the garnishment.
Judgment Creditors
Wage source located to collect
Collection Attorneys
Right garnishee for the writ
Small-Claims Winners
Self-collected judgments enforced
Landlords
Money judgments against tenants
Contractors
Unpaid invoices reduced to judgment
Medical Providers
Patient balances on judgment
Whoever you are, the wall is the same: in Nevada the garnishment math is generous to the debtor, so you cannot afford to waste a writ on the wrong employer. We locate the wage source and verify the garnishee so your one-hundred-twenty-day writ lands where it can actually collect, and for a legitimate judgment a verified employer typically comes back within 24 hours.
Our Commitment
We find the wage source so your Nevada garnishment can work, a verified current employer and the correct legal entity to name as garnishee, or a clear answer when the debtor has no reachable wages. Lawful, permissible-purpose locating for creditors, collection attorneys, and judgment holders since 2004.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much of my wages can be garnished in Nevada?
Under NRS 31.295 a creditor takes the lesser of a percentage of disposable earnings or the amount your weekly disposable pay exceeds fifty times the federal minimum wage. The percentage is eighteen percent if your gross weekly wage was seven hundred seventy dollars or less when the writ issued, or twenty-five percent if it was more.
What is the protected weekly floor in Nevada?
Nevada exempts fifty times the federal minimum wage in weekly disposable earnings, which at the current federal minimum is about three hundred sixty-two dollars and fifty cents. That is higher than the federal thirty-times floor, so Nevada protects more of every paycheck and near-floor earners may have nothing collectible.
Does Nevada use the state minimum wage for the floor?
No. The fifty-times exemption in NRS 31.295 is keyed to the federal minimum wage, not Nevada’s higher state minimum. The state minimum affects your take-home pay and which percentage tier applies, but it does not change the exemption formula itself.
What counts as disposable earnings?
Disposable earnings are what remains after deductions the law requires, such as federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare. Voluntary deductions like retirement contributions or extra insurance do not reduce the garnishable base.
Do the caps apply to child support or taxes?
No. The NRS 31.295 percentage cap and fifty-times floor do not apply to court orders for child or spousal support, to bankruptcy orders, or to state and federal tax debts. Those obligations collect under their own, deeper-reaching limits.
How long does a Nevada wage garnishment last?
A wage writ in Nevada remains in effect for one hundred twenty days from service, operating as a continuing levy on earnings. After that, the creditor must obtain a fresh writ to keep collecting from the same employer.
How does the debtor challenge a garnishment?
After being served with notice of the writ, a judgment debtor may file a claim of exemption with the court and serve it on the sheriff, garnishee, and creditor, asserting that some or all of the earnings are protected. The creditor can object and the court decides.
Why do you need the employer to garnish wages?
A wage writ is served on the garnishee, which for wages is the employer, who must answer within twenty days. If you do not know where the debtor currently works, there is nobody to serve. We locate and verify the employer so the writ collects. For a legitimate judgment a verified employer typically comes back within 24 hours.
Hold a Nevada Judgment but Can’t Find the Wages?
We locate the debtor’s current employer and verify the right garnishee so your NRS 31.295 writ lands where it can actually collect, typically within 24 hours. Contact us to get started.
Start Your Request →
