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.
Child support, tax collection, federal administrative student-loan garnishment, and certain other orders are governed by different rules and are not calculated using this ordinary consumer-debt formula. 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
Filing a bankruptcy petition generally triggers the automatic stay and can stop most ordinary prepetition judgment garnishments, subject to statutory exceptions and prior-case rules. Prompt notice to payroll remains important so withholding stops in practice.
How Brock & Stout can help
We can review the Alabama judgment and garnishment, explain how the automatic stay may apply, and provide prompt notice to payroll and the other affected parties after a case is filed.
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
Georgia uses a different garnishment statute and calculation.
FAQs
No. Georgia has its own garnishment statute and includes a separate percentage cap for certain private student-loan judgments. Use the Georgia Wage Garnishment Calculator for a Georgia garnishment.
For most ordinary prepetition judgment debts, filing bankruptcy generally triggers the automatic stay and pauses the garnishment while the stay remains effective. Domestic-support withholding and other statutory exceptions require separate analysis. Prompt notice to the employer is still important so payroll can stop the withholding.
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.
Prefer to send us your information? Start a case evaluation.