Texas Procedural Requirements for Wage Garnishment

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Texas Procedural Requirements

A writ of garnishment is available if a plaintiff has a valid, subsisting judgment and makes an affidavit that, within the plaintiff's knowledge, the defendant does not possess property in Texas subject to execution sufficient to satisfy the judgment. Tex. Civil. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. _ 63.001. After service of a writ of garnishment, the garnishee may not deliver any effects or pay any debt to the defendant. Tex. Civil. Prac. & Rem Code Ann._ 63.003.

The writ of garnishment shall be dated and tested as other writs, and may be delivered to the sheriff or constable by the officer who issued it, or he may deliver it to the plaintiff for that purpose. Tex. R. Civil. P. 662. The sheriff or constable receiving the writ of garnishment shall immediately proceed to execute the same by delivering a copy thereof to the garnishee, and shall make return thereof as of other citations. Tex. R. Civil. P. 663.

The defendant shall be served in any manner prescribed for service of a citation or as provided in Rule 21a with a copy of the writ of garnishment, the application, accompanying affidavits and orders of the court as soon as practicable following the service of the writ. There shall be prominently displayed on the face of the copy of the writ served on the defendant, in tenpoint type and in a manner calculated to advise a reasonably attentive person of its contents, the required notice. Tex. R. Civil. P. 663a.

Where the garnishee is discharged upon his answer, the costs of the proceeding, including a reasonable compensation to the garnishee, shall be taxed against the plaintiff. Where the answer of the garnishee has not been controverted and the garnishee is held thereon, such costs shall be taxed against the defendant and included in the execution. Where the answer is contested, the costs shall abide the issue of such contest. Tex. R. Civil. P. 677.

Interest Rate at which Judgments Accrue

All judgments of the courts of this Statutee based on a contract that provides for a specific rate of interest earn interest at a rate equal to the lesser of the rate specified in the contract or 18 percent. All other judgments, together with taxable court costs, earn interest, compounded annually, at the rate published by the consumer credit commissioner in the Texas Register.

The consumer credit commissioner shall compute on the 15th day of each month the judgment interest rate by taking the auction rate quoted on a discount basis for 52 week treasury bills issued by the United Statutees government as published by the Federal Reserve Board on the most recent date preceding the date of computation. The interest rate so computed shall be the judgment rate, subject to a ten percent floor and a twenty percent ceiling. Judgments earn interest for the period beginning on the day the judgment is rendered and ending on the day the judgment is satisfied. Judgments in wrongful death, personal injury, and property damage cases must include prejudgment interest as calculated by Statute. Tex. Rev. Civil. Statute. Ann. art. 50691.05. Applicable Forms Tex. R. Civil. P. 661. Tex. R. Civil. P. 663a. 4.0.