Tennessee Wage Garnishment Calculator
Tennessee starts from the federal formula — 25% of disposable earnings or the amount above $217.50 a week — and then protects another $2.50 a week for each dependent child under 16 who lives in Tennessee.
Two dollars and fifty cents per child
To the above allowances, there shall be added as exempt to the judgment debtor the sum of two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) per week for each dependent child under sixteen (16) years of age and a resident of this state.
A Memphis parent of three
A Memphis parent grossing $700.00 a week with $70.00 withheld would face the federal $157.50. Reporting three children under 16 to the employer adds $7.50 a week to the exemption, so the garnishment becomes $150.00.
Telling the employer
- The base limit in Tenn. Code § 26-2-106(a) is the lesser of 25% of weekly disposable earnings or the amount above 30 times the federal minimum wage; other pay periods use an equivalent amount.§1
- You must tell your employer about each child you claim; if you do not, the $2.50 child exemption does not apply.§2
- The employer pays you your exempt earnings, lists your dependent children under 16 in its answer to the garnishment, and gives you a copy of the summons explaining your exemption rights (Tenn. Code § 26-2-214).§2
- Section 26-2-106 also makes the debtor responsible for certain garnishment costs, which is one reason the amount withheld can exceed the payment toward the debt.§1