Indiana: Wage Garnishment Limits
The short answer
Indiana adopts the same 25%-of-disposable-earnings / 30x-federal-minimum-wage formula as federal law, but adds a real extra protection federal law lacks: a debtor who shows good cause can get the percentage cut all the way down to 10%. Indiana's overall cap applies to the combined total of all ordinary garnishments against the same paycheck at once, not to each one separately. Child support always outranks an ordinary garnishment regardless of which was filed first, and Indiana's anti-discharge law is broader than the federal one-garnishment rule.
| Governing law | IC 24-4.5-5-104 (garnishment requires a prior judgment) and IC 24-4.5-5-105 (the cap itself, plus the employer-fee and priority rules), both in the Uniform Consumer Credit Code, Title 24. Anti-discharge protection: IC 24-4.5-5-106 |
|---|---|
| Maximum that can be garnished | Under IC 24-4.5-5-105(2), the lesser of: (a) 25% of disposable earnings for the week -- or, on a showing of good cause by the debtor, a court may cut that percentage to as low as 10% -- or (b) the amount disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage. The statute expressly caps garnishment 'to enforce the payment of one (1) or more judgments,' so multiple ordinary garnishments share this single combined ceiling rather than each getting their own |
| State rule vs. federal floor | Indiana restates the federal CCPA's own 25%/30x numbers as the starting point, but adds one genuine debtor-protective feature federal law doesn't have: a court may reduce the 25% figure to as low as 10% of disposable earnings on a showing of good cause (IC 24-4.5-5-105(2)(a)). A 2026 bill, SB 197, would have raised the minimum-wage multiplier from 30x to 83x -- roughly quintupling the protected floor to about $600/week -- and passed the Senate 32-13, but died in the House Judiciary Committee without a hearing before the session ended; current law is unchanged |
| Minimum-wage protected floor | 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage ($7.25) = $217.50 of weekly disposable earnings protected. Indiana's own state minimum wage law (IC 22-2-2) has matched the federal $7.25 rate since 2009 and does not set a separate, higher figure, so the multiplier lands on the same $217.50 either way |
| Support, tax & student loan debts | Child support (support withholding) doesn't compete on equal footing with an ordinary garnishment: 'A support withholding order takes priority over a garnishment order irrespective of their dates of entry or activation,' and an ordinary garnishment 'shall be honored only to the extent that' the support withholding hasn't already used up the statutory maximum (IC 24-4.5-5-105(8)). Support withholding itself is capped at the same federal CCPA support tiers -- 50%/60% of disposable earnings, rising to 55%/65% if more than 12 weeks in arrears (IC 24-4.5-5-105(3)). This chapter doesn't address tax debt or federal student loans, which proceed through their own separate mechanisms -- administrative wage garnishment for defaulted federal student loans caps at 15% of disposable pay without a court order (20 U.S.C. § 1095a(a)(1)) |
| Head-of-household/family exemption | No exemption tied specifically to dependents or head-of-household status. Indiana's one significant extra protection -- the good-cause reduction down to as low as 10% under IC 24-4.5-5-105(2)(a) -- is available to any debtor who can show good cause, not specifically tied to supporting a family, and is already covered under this survey's maximum-garnishment dimension rather than as a separate family add-on |
| Multiple garnishments at once | Indiana takes a genuinely different approach from states that rank garnishments strictly by filing date: IC 24-4.5-5-105(2)'s cap applies to enforce 'one (1) or more judgments' together, meaning multiple ordinary judgment creditors share a single combined ceiling rather than each competing for priority in time. (A related but separate provision, subsection (5), lets an employer charge one collection fee per judgment debt when deductions arise from a garnishment order or series of orders on that same debt.) Support withholding orders sit outside and above this combined pool entirely, automatically outranking any ordinary garnishment regardless of when each was entered (IC 24-4.5-5-105(8)) |
| Protection from being fired | Broader than the federal floor on its face: IC 24-4.5-5-106 bars discharging an employee because 'a creditor OR CREDITORS' has subjected the employee's earnings to garnishment -- language that, unlike the federal one-indebtedness limit (15 U.S.C. § 1674), is not expressly limited to a single garnishment. No Indiana appellate decision interpreting this specific 'creditor or creditors' phrase was found in this research, so this reading is based on the statute's plain text rather than case law construing it |
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The short answer
If an ordinary creditor — a credit card company, a hospital, a personal-loan lender — already has a money judgment against you in Indiana, it can garnish your paycheck, but only up to the same basic limit federal law sets nationwide: the lesser of 25% of your disposable earnings for the week, or the amount your disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage. Indiana adds one real extra protection: if you can show good cause, a court can cut that 25% figure down to as low as 10%. If more than one ordinary creditor is garnishing you at once, Indiana treats the cap as a single combined ceiling for all of them together, not a separate allowance for each. Child support always comes first, no matter which order was filed earlier.
Requirements one by one
Governing law
The substantive cap is IC 24-4.5-5-105, inside the Uniform Consumer Credit Code. A companion section, IC 24-4.5-5-104, requires that a creditor already have a judgment before garnishing wages at all — Indiana doesn't allow pre-judgment wage garnishment. The anti-discharge protection sits in the next section, IC 24-4.5-5-106.
Maximum that can be garnished
Under § 105(2), the cap is the lesser of two numbers: 25% of your disposable earnings for the week, or the amount your disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage. Indiana adds something most states don't: if you show good cause why the amount should be reduced, a court can lower that 25% figure to as low as 10% of disposable earnings. Notably, the statute caps garnishment "to enforce the payment of one (1) or more judgments" — meaning this ceiling applies to the combined total taken by every ordinary creditor garnishing you at once, not a separate 25%/30x allowance for each one.
State rule vs. federal floor
Indiana's baseline numbers — 25% and 30 times the federal minimum wage — are exactly what federal law itself requires. The real difference is the good-cause reduction: nothing in the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act lets a court cut the percentage below 25% for an ordinary judgment debtor, but Indiana law does, down to as low as 10%. Separately, a 2026 bill, Senate Bill 197, would have gone much further — raising the 30x multiplier to 83x the federal minimum wage, pushing the protected floor from $217.50 a week to roughly $600 — and it passed the Senate 32-13 after a debate that drew national-style attention (creditors' attorneys warning it would tighten access to credit; anti-poverty advocates arguing the $217.50 floor hadn't moved since 2009). The bill died without a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee before the session ended, so it never became law; the 30x figure remains current.
Minimum-wage protected floor
The 30-times multiplier applies to the federal minimum hourly wage, $7.25, which works out to $217.50 of weekly disposable earnings fully protected. Indiana's own state minimum wage law has matched the federal rate exactly since 2009, so there's no separate, higher state figure to apply here — unlike some neighboring states.
Support, tax & student loan debts
Child support doesn't compete with an ordinary garnishment on equal footing. By statute, "a support withholding order takes priority over a garnishment order irrespective of their dates of entry or activation" — and an ordinary garnishment is only honored to the extent the support withholding hasn't already used up the maximum allowed. Support withholding itself follows the same tiered federal ceiling: up to 50% of disposable earnings if you're supporting another spouse or child, 60% if not, rising to 55%/65% if you're more than 12 weeks behind. This chapter doesn't address state or federal tax debt or federal student loans; federal student loan default collection proceeds separately and administratively, capped at 15% of disposable pay with no court order required.
Head-of-household/family exemption
Indiana doesn't add a dependent- or family-specific exemption on top of the ordinary cap. The one real extra protection available — the good-cause reduction down to as low as 10% — isn't tied to having dependents; any debtor can ask for it regardless of family status, which is why it's covered under the maximum-garnishment dimension above rather than as a separate family add-on here.
Multiple garnishments at once
Indiana handles this differently from states that simply rank garnishments by filing date: because § 105(2)'s cap covers "one (1) or more judgments" together, multiple ordinary creditors garnishing the same paycheck share one combined ceiling rather than each getting their own 25%/30x allowance stacked on top of the others. Separately, an employer processing deductions from a garnishment order or a series of orders on the same judgment debt can charge one collection fee (the greater of $12 or 3%) for that debt, split between debtor and creditor. Child-support withholding sits outside this combined pool entirely and always takes priority, regardless of when each order was entered.
Protection from being fired
Indiana's anti-discharge statute reads more broadly than the federal floor: it bars firing someone because "a creditor or creditors" garnished their wages, without the federal law's express limit to a single indebtedness. No Indiana appellate decision testing that specific "creditor or creditors" language was found in this research, so this is a plain-text reading of the statute rather than a judicially confirmed interpretation — but on its face, Indiana law doesn't carve out the same "second garnishment" exception federal law does.
What trips people up
The good-cause reduction to 10% isn't automatic — a debtor has to ask a court for it and show good cause, and Indiana's cap is otherwise the same as the federal one. Also, because Indiana's overall cap covers all ordinary garnishments together rather than ranking them by priority, a second creditor with a valid garnishment order may still collect something even while an earlier garnishment is active, as long as the combined total doesn't exceed the statutory ceiling — a different mechanic than states that make a later creditor wait entirely. Finally, the widely-reported 2026 push to raise Indiana's protected floor to roughly $600/week (Senate Bill 197) did not become law — it died in a House committee — so the $217.50 figure is still current despite the coverage it received.
Common questions
Can I get the 25% garnishment reduced?
Yes — Indiana law lets a court cut the percentage down to as low as 10% of disposable earnings if you show good cause, a real protection federal law alone doesn't offer.
What happens if two creditors both try to garnish my wages?
Indiana's cap applies to all ordinary garnishments together, not to each one separately, so the combined total taken can't exceed the statutory ceiling even if multiple creditors are involved.
Does child support ever have to wait behind an existing garnishment?
No — a child-support withholding order automatically outranks an ordinary garnishment, regardless of which one was filed or activated first.
Statutes and sources
- IC 24-4.5-5-105(2) — "the maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subjected to garnishment to enforce the payment of one (1) or more judgments against the individual may not exceed the lesser of the following amounts: (a) An amount equal to twenty-five percent (25%) of the individual's disposable earnings for that week or, upon a showing of good cause by the individual why the amount should be reduced, an amount equal to... at least ten percent (10%)... (b) The amount by which the individual's disposable earnings for that week exceed thirty (30) times the federal minimum hourly wage." — https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-24/article-4-5/chapter-5/section-24-4-5-5-105/ (accessed 2026-07-05)
- IC 24-4.5-5-105(3) — "The maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subject to garnishment or support withholding to enforce any order for the support of any person shall not exceed: (a)... fifty percent (50%)... and (b)... sixty percent (60%)... deemed to be fifty-five percent (55%) and... sixty-five percent (65%)... if... prior to the twelve (12) week period." — https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-24/article-4-5/chapter-5/section-24-4-5-5-105/ (accessed 2026-07-05)
- IC 24-4.5-5-105(8) — "A support withholding order takes priority over a garnishment order irrespective of their dates of entry or activation. If a person is subject to a support withholding order and a garnishment order, the garnishment order shall be honored only to the extent that disposable earnings withheld under the support withholding order do not exceed the maximum amount subject to garnishment as computed under subsection (2)." — https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-24/article-4-5/chapter-5/section-24-4-5-5-105/ (accessed 2026-07-05)
- IC 24-4.5-5-106 — "No employer shall discharge an employee for the reason that a creditor or creditors of the employee has subjected or attempted to subject unpaid earnings of the employee to garnishment or like proceedings directed to the employer for the purpose of paying a judgment or judgments." — https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-24/article-4-5/chapter-5/section-24-4-5-5-106/ (accessed 2026-07-05)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1673(a) — "the maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subjected to garnishment may not exceed (1) 25 per centum of his disposable earnings for that week, or (2) the amount by which his disposable earnings for that week exceed thirty times the Federal minimum hourly wage... whichever is less." — https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title15/USCODE-2011-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673 (accessed 2026-07-05)
- 20 U.S.C. § 1095a(a)(1) — "the amount deducted for any pay period may not exceed 15 percent of disposable pay, except that a greater percentage may be deducted with the written consent of the individual involved." — https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title20-section1095a&num=0&edition=prelim (accessed 2026-07-05)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.