Last Updated September 19, 2026
Alabama creditors usually need a judgment, then serve a garnishment on the employer. For many consumer debts, federal law and Ala. Code § 5-19-15 cap how much of disposable earnings can be taken: the lesser of 25% or the amount by which those earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage. That wage is $7.25 an hour, so the weekly floor is $217.50.
Support, taxes, and federal student loans are not this formula. Choose those categories and the tool will explain instead of inventing a number. For the stay after a bankruptcy filing, see Can bankruptcy stop wage garnishment? and the Alabama garnishment guide.
Interactive tool
Data last verified: 2026-09-19. Calculation version 2026.09.1.
How the calculation works
Disposable earnings are what is left after deductions the law requires — federal and state tax, Social Security, Medicare. Health insurance you elected usually stays in the number. The tool applies DOL’s pay-period multiples so weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, and monthly checks use the matching floor.
What this result does not tell you
It does not read your writ. It does not estimate bank-account garnishments. It does not reverse money already sent to the creditor. Pre-April 12, 1988 consumer debts had a different Alabama percentage; almost no current files use that branch, so it is disclosed rather than calculated.
Relevant legal rules
Ala. Code § 6-10-7 and 15 U.S.C. § 1673 cover many non-consumer judgments. Ala. Code § 5-19-15 covers consumer credit transactions created on or after April 12, 1988. Procedure is Title 6, Chapter 6, Article 8. DOL Fact Sheet #30 shows the federal cap with examples.
Example
If disposable weekly earnings are $600, 25% is $150. The amount above $217.50 is $382.50. The lesser permitted amount is $150. That is the ordinary consumer estimate — not a support or tax figure.
What you may want to do next
If payroll is already docking a check, bring the writ and the last two paystubs to a bankruptcy consultation. Filing can stay most ordinary garnishments after the employer has the case number. The same day’s payroll cycle may still deduct once.
How Brock & Stout can help
We review the Alabama judgment and garnishment, file when you are ready, and send notice to payroll. We cannot promise a particular paycheck will be whole or that support or tax withholdings will stop.
Related resources
- Wage garnishment — Wage garnishment
How the stay reaches a paycheck.
- Alabama wage garnishment — Alabama wage garnishment
State procedure plus the federal stay.
- Automatic stay — Automatic stay
What filing generally stops.
- Georgia calculator — Georgia calculator
Separate statute. Do not reuse Alabama numbers.
FAQs
No. Use the [Georgia calculator](/tools/georgia-wage-garnishment-calculator). Georgia hardcodes $217.50 in its own code and uses 15% for some private student-loan judgments.
For most ordinary judgment creditors, filing pauses the garnishment once payroll has notice. Support and some tax collections can continue. See the [automatic stay](/bankruptcy-attorneys/automatic-stay).
Want to know what these numbers mean for your situation?
Talk with a Brock & Stout bankruptcy attorney. We can review the garnishment, lawsuit, or foreclosure paperwork with you. We cannot promise a particular result.