North Carolina Wage Garnishment Calculator
North Carolina does not let ordinary creditors take wages that support a family: earnings from the last 60 days are protected once you show they are needed for your household.
Sixty days of earnings that support a family
the earnings of the debtor for his personal services, at any time within 60 days next preceding the order, cannot be so applied when it appears, by the debtor’s affidavit or otherwise, that these earnings are necessary for the use of a family supported wholly or partly by his labor.
What can still reach North Carolina wages
- The protection applies when your earnings support a family wholly or partly, shown by your affidavit or otherwise.§1
- It covers earnings for personal services from the 60 days before the court’s order.§1
- Federal collections are not stopped by this rule: child support, federal student-loan wage garnishment and IRS levies can still reach North Carolina paychecks.§2
The rare case without a family
Most North Carolina workers can stop a creditor by showing their pay supports a household. A single Raleigh worker with no one relying on their $900.00 weekly check falls outside § 1-362; for that worker the federal limit — $192.50 — is the ceiling.