Wage Garnishment Limits in Kentucky
At a glance
| Governing law | KRS § 427.010(2)-(3) (the garnishment cap and its carve-outs); § 427.140 (anti-discharge for a single garnishment); § 425.506 (priority among successive garnishment orders served on the same employer) |
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| Maximum that can be garnished | The lesser of 25% of disposable earnings for the week, or the amount by which disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage (§ 427.010(2)): a direct restatement of the federal CCPA formula, applied uniformly to every kind of ordinary debt with no separate track for consumer credit transactions |
| State rule vs. federal floor | Matches the federal CCPA formula exactly; Kentucky is one of the states that simply adopts the federal rule as its own rather than imposing anything stricter or more protective |
| Minimum-wage protected floor | 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage for a weekly pay period, with the equivalent federal multiple used for other pay periods: no Kentucky-specific wage rate or multiplier is substituted (§ 427.010(2)(b)) |
| Support, tax & student loan debts | Section 427.010(3) expressly exempts three categories from the ordinary 25%/30x-minimum-wage cap: any court order for support of any person, any Chapter 13 bankruptcy court order, and any debt due for state or federal tax: meaning support garnishment instead follows the federal CCPA's own higher tiers (50-65% of disposable earnings, 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b)), and tax debt is collected through the taxing authority's own separate levy process. Federal student loans follow their own independent federal mechanism (15% of disposable pay, 20 U.S.C. § 1095a), outside this statute entirely |
| Head-of-household/family exemption | KRS § 427.010(2) applies the same ordinary percentage and federal-wage floor without a separate household-head adjustment; subsection (3) lists support, bankruptcy, and tax exceptions. |
| Multiple garnishments at once | Orders take priority by date of service on the employer. An inferior order starts in the next succeeding pay period not subject to a prior order; a creditor cannot serve two orders against the same employee in one pay period (KRS § 425.506(2)). |
| Protection from being fired | Matches the federal floor exactly with no independent state extension: § 427.140 bars discharging an employee 'by reason of the fact that his earnings have been subjected to garnishment for any one (1) indebtedness': the same single-debt limit as 15 U.S.C. § 1674, not broadened to cover a second or third garnishment the way some states' statutes do |
Requirements one by one
Governing law
KRS § 427.010(2) supplies the ordinary wage cap, § 427.140 addresses discharge, and § 425.506 governs service and priority of earnings orders.
Maximum garnishment amount
At $400 in weekly disposable earnings, 25% is $100. With the current $7.25 federal hourly wage under 29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1)(C), the amount above the 30-times floor ($217.50) is $182.50. KRS § 427.010(2) limits this example to $100; for a lower paycheck, the excess-over-the-floor branch can control.
Federal floor comparison
Kentucky's two statutory tests match those in 15 U.S.C. § 1673(a): 25% of weekly disposable earnings and earnings above 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage. For a pay period other than a week, KRS § 427.010(2)(b) calls for the equivalent federal multiple.
Priority debt exceptions
KRS § 427.010(3) removes court-ordered support, Chapter 13 bankruptcy orders, and state or federal tax debts from the ordinary cap. The federal support limits in 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b) vary with other dependents and arrears. Federal student-loan administrative garnishment has a separate rule in 20 U.S.C. § 1095a(a)(1), generally allowing 15% of disposable pay unless the borrower consents in writing to more.
Multiple garnishments priority
KRS § 425.506(2) uses service on the employer, not the judgment date, to rank earnings orders. An inferior order takes effect at the start of the next succeeding pay period that is not subject to a prior order. The same creditor cannot cause two orders against the same employee to be served in a single pay period.
Employee termination protection
KRS § 427.140 says an employer may not discharge an employee because earnings were garnished “for any one (1) indebtedness.” The federal prohibition in 15 U.S.C. § 1674(a) likewise names “any one indebtedness.”
What trips people up
The employer's service date controls priority. An earlier judgment alone does not put an earnings order ahead of an order served first on the employer. KRS § 425.506(1) also ties the lien to nonexempt earnings in the service pay period and any succeeding periods designated by the order.
Common questions
Does the ordinary cap depend on whether the debt was for consumer credit? KRS § 427.010(2) applies to aggregate disposable earnings without making that distinction.
Does a larger family change the ordinary wage cap? The two tests in § 427.010(2) do not add a household-head allowance. Family support affects the separate federal support-order percentages in 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b).
Can two creditors both serve orders in one pay period? Section 425.506(2) prohibits two orders from the same creditor in that period; it addresses different creditors by giving their orders priority according to service date.
Statutes and sources
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KRS § 427.010(2)-(3) — “(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section and KRS 427.050, the maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subjected to garnishment may not exceed the lesser of either: (a) Twenty-five percent (25%) of his disposable earnings for that week, or (b) The amount by which his disposable earnings for that week exceed thirty (30) times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 in effect at the time the earnings are payable. In the case of earnings for any pay period other than a week, the multiple of the federal minimum hourly wage equivalent to that set forth in paragraph (b) of this subsection as prescribed by regulation by the federal secretary of labor shall apply. (3) The restrictions of subsection (2) of this section do not apply in the case of: (a) Any order of any court for the support of any person. (b) Any order of any court of bankruptcy under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. (c) Any debt due for any state or federal tax.” Source: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=46624 (accessed 2026-10-06).
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KRS § 427.140 — “No employer may discharge any employee by reason of the fact that his earnings have been subjected to garnishment for any one (1) indebtedness.” Source: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=18556 (accessed 2026-10-06).
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KRS § 425.506(2) — “Orders of attachment or garnishment of earnings shall have priority according to the date of service on the employer, each inferior order taking effect as if served at the commencement of the next succeeding pay period not subject to a prior order; provided that no creditor shall cause two (2) orders to be served on the employer against the same employee in the same pay period.” Source: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=18419 (accessed 2026-10-06).
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15 U.S.C. § 1673(b) — “The maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subject to garnishment to enforce any order for the support of any person shall not exceed— (A) where such individual is supporting his spouse or dependent child (other than a spouse or child with respect to whose support such order is used), 50 per centum of such individual's disposable earnings for that week; and (B) where such individual is not supporting such a spouse or dependent child described in clause (A), 60 per centum of such individual's disposable earnings for that week; except that, with respect to the disposable earnings of any individual for any workweek, the 50 per centum specified in clause (A) shall be deemed to be 55 per centum and the 60 per centum specified in clause (B) shall be deemed to be 65 per centum, if and to the extent that such earnings are subject to garnishment to enforce a support order with respect to a period which is prior to the twelve-week period which ends with the beginning of such workweek.” Source: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title15/html/USCODE-2024-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673.htm (accessed 2026-10-06).
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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” Source: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title20/html/USCODE-2024-title20-chap28-subchapIV-partG-sec1095a.htm (accessed 2026-10-06).
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15 U.S.C. § 1674 — “No employer may discharge any employee by reason of the fact that his earnings have been subjected to garnishment for any one indebtedness.” Source: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title15/html/USCODE-2024-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1674.htm (accessed 2026-10-06).
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29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1)(C) — “$7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day;” Source: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title29/html/USCODE-2024-title29-chap8-sec206.htm (accessed 2026-10-06).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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