Wage Garnishment Limits in New Mexico
At a glance
| Governing law | NMSA 1978 § 35-12-7 (wage exemption formula and support cap), § 35-12-9(B) (multiple-garnishment priority) |
|---|---|
| Maximum that can be garnished | Exempt from garnishment is the GREATER of (1) 75% of the debtor's disposable earnings for the pay period, or (2) an amount each week equal to 40 times the highest applicable minimum hourly wage rate where the wages were earned (§ 35-12-7(A)) — so at most 25% of disposable earnings can ever be taken, and often less |
| State rule vs. federal floor | Matches the federal 25% ordinary cap in percentage terms (75% exempt = 25% garnishable, the same fraction as federal law), but is more protective on the minimum-wage floor: 40 times the HIGHEST applicable federal, state, or local minimum hourly wage, versus federal law's 30 times the federal minimum wage alone. A 2023 amendment also added bank-deposit traceability protection for exempt wages, closing a gap federal law doesn't address |
| Minimum-wage protected floor | 40 times the highest applicable minimum hourly wage rate — federal, state, or local, whichever is highest at the place the wages were earned (§ 35-12-7(A)(2), (B)(2)) — a bigger multiplier than the federal 30x, and one that can rise further in a city with its own higher minimum wage |
| Support, tax & student loan debts | Support orders are capped separately and more simply than federal law: a flat 50% of the debtor's disposable earnings for any pay period, with no higher tier for arrears or fewer dependents (§ 35-12-7(A), (C)) — actually lower than the federal support ceiling, which can reach 65%. State or federal tax debt and federal student loan collection operate through their own separate administrative processes outside this statute entirely |
| Head-of-household/family exemption | None built into the wage-garnishment formula itself — the flat 75%/40x-wage-floor test already applies to every debtor regardless of household status. (New Mexico's separate personal-property exemption statutes have their own head-of-family provisions, but those protect property, not wages, and are outside this survey's scope) |
| Multiple garnishments at once | First-in-time. If a debtor's wages are subject to more than one judgment lien, the liens are satisfied in the order the garnishment was served on the garnishee (§ 35-12-9(B)) |
| Protection from being fired | No independent New Mexico statute bars firing an employee over an ordinary wage garnishment; only the federal rule applies, barring discharge for a single garnishment for one debt (15 U.S.C. § 1674) |
Requirements one by one
Maximum garnishment amount
Section 35-12-7(A) is written as an exemption: the protected amount is the greater of 75% of disposable earnings or forty times the highest applicable minimum hourly wage. Because the larger exemption controls, the creditor's reachable share is never more than the remaining 25% and can be smaller.
Federal floor comparison
Federal § 1673(a) uses the same 25% percentage ceiling but protects only the amount below thirty times the federal minimum wage. New Mexico uses forty times the highest applicable wage instead, so its wage-floor prong is broader even though the percentage prong matches.
Minimum wage protection floor
Section 35-12-7(B)(2) defines the benchmark as the highest federal, state, or local minimum hourly wage applicable when the wages are payable. It also says the benchmark applies even if the particular employer is exempt from paying that wage.
Priority debt exceptions
New Mexico separately exempts 50% of disposable earnings from child-support garnishment and caps the combined garnishment and wage-deduction procedures at the same figure. Federal § 1673(b)(2) otherwise uses support tiers that can increase based on other dependents and older arrears.
Multiple garnishments priority
Section 35-12-9(B) states that multiple judgment liens "shall be satisfied in the order in which the garnishment is served on the garnishee." The operative event is service on the employer or other garnishee, not the judgment date.
Employee termination protection
The federal floor applies: 15 U.S.C. § 1674(a) bars discharge because an employee's earnings were garnished for one indebtedness. The Chapter 35 garnishment provisions quoted here do not add a broader discharge rule.
What trips people up
Deposit does not automatically destroy the exemption. Section 35-12-7(D) says protected amounts retain their status in a personal bank account if they remain reasonably traceable. Mixing wages with other funds can therefore turn traceability, rather than the original paycheck formula, into the practical issue.
Common questions
What must the employer do with the protected part of the paycheck? NMSA 1978 § 35-12-8 says the employer must pay the exempt wages or salary to the defendant when due.
How long does a wage lien continue? Under § 35-12-9(A), the lien reaches nonexempt wages coming due after the garnishee's answer until the judgment is paid or the employment relationship ends.
Statutes and sources
- NMSA 1978 § 35-12-7 — "Exempt from garnishment in all other situations is the greater of" seventy-five percent of disposable earnings or "an amount each week equal to forty times the highest applicable minimum hourly wage rate at the place the wages were earned." The section also says reasonably traceable exempt amounts retain their status after deposit. — https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa-unanno/en/item/18535/index.do (accessed 2026-08-17)
- NMSA 1978 § 35-12-8 — "Any employer charged as a garnishee in any civil action in the magistrate court shall pay to the defendant, when due, the amount of his wages or salary exempt from garnishment under Section 35-12-7 NMSA 1978." — https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa-unanno/en/item/18535/index.do (accessed 2026-08-17)
- NMSA 1978 § 35-12-9 — "If the defendant's wages or salary are subject to more than one judgment lien, the liens shall be satisfied in the order in which the garnishment is served on the garnishee." — https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa-unanno/en/item/18535/index.do (accessed 2026-08-17)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1673 — Ordinary garnishment "may not exceed" twenty-five percent of disposable earnings or the amount above thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage, whichever is less; subsection (b)(2) states the separate support tiers. — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title15/html/USCODE-2024-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673.htm (accessed 2026-08-17)
- 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." — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title15/html/USCODE-2024-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1674.htm (accessed 2026-08-17)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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