Title 32 — Judicial Remedies

In this chapter, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires: 1. "Defendant" means every judgment debtor. 2. "Disposable earnings" means that part of the earnings of any individual remaining after the deduction from those earnings of any amounts required by other law …

Any creditor is entitled to proceed by garnishment in any court having jurisdiction of the subject of the action against any person, any public corporation, the United States, the state of North Dakota, or any institution, department, or agency of the state, indebted to or having…

1. The maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subject to garnishment may not exceed the lesser of: a. Twenty-five percent of disposable earnings for that week. b. The amount by which disposable earnings for that week exceed fo…

Service upon the state of North Dakota, or any state institution, department, or agency, as garnishee, may be made upon the director of the office of management and budget, or the director's authorized designee, in the manner provided by law for service in garnishment proceedings…

In any action in a court of record for the recovery of money, at any time after judgment, a garnishee summons may be issued against any third person as provided in this chapter. The plaintiff and defendant shall be designated. The person against whom the summons is issued shall b…

1. The garnishee summons must state: a. That the garnishee shall serve upon the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney within twenty days after service of the garnishee summons: (1) A written disclosure, under oath, of indebtedness to the defendant; and (2) Answers, under oath, to…

1. The garnishee summons and notice to defendant shall be served upon the garnishee in the same manner as other summons in that court of record except that service must be personal. 2. Service of a garnishee summons and disclosure statement upon a bank or credit union must be mad…

1. Within the time as limited in the garnishee summons, the garnishee shall serve upon the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney written answers, under oath, to the questions in the garnishment disclosure form and to any written interrogatories that are served upon the garnishee.…

In all garnishment proceedings, the plaintiff, when the garnishee summons is served upon the garnishee, shall tender to the garnishee the sum of forty dollars as the fee for making an affidavit of disclosure.

Subject to the provisions of sections 32-09.1-12 and 32-09.1-13, the disclosure is conclusive as to all property of the defendant. If the garnishee denies having any indebtedness to the defendant or having any property of the defendant in possession, the filing in court of a copy…

Either before or after written disclosure, any party to the garnishment proceedings may obtain an ex parte order requiring oral disclosure. The order may be obtained upon affidavit showing, upon information and belief, facts justifying the order, and the court shall require the g…

If it appears that any person not a party to the action has or claims an interest in any of the garnished property antedating the garnishment, the court may permit that person to appear and maintain that person's rights. If the person does not appear, the court may direct that th…

If any garnishee who is duly summoned willfully fails to serve disclosure as required in this chapter, the court, upon proof by affidavit of the creditor, may render judgment against the garnishee for an amount not exceeding the lesser of the plaintiff's judgment against the defe…

Judgment against a garnishee must be rendered, if at all, for the amount due the defendant, or so much thereof as may be necessary to satisfy the plaintiff's judgment against the defendant, with costs taxed and allowed in the proceeding against the garnishee but not to exceed the…

A judgment may not be rendered against a garnishee if the judgment against the defendant is less than forty dollars, exclusive of costs, rather, the garnishee shall be discharged.

If any person summoned as a garnishee is discharged, the judgment is no bar to an action brought by the defendant or other claimants against the garnishee for the same demand.

No employer may discharge any employee by reason of the fact that earnings have been subjected to garnishment or execution. If an employer discharges an employee in violation of this section, the employee may within ninety days of discharge bring a civil action for recovery of tw…

If the amount required to be retained by the garnishee is less than ten dollars, the garnishee may not retain the sum but shall make the disclosures otherwise required, except as provided in section 32-09.1-21.

A garnishee summons lapses and the garnishee is discharged of any liability upon the expiration of three hundred sixty days after the service of the summons, or a longer period of time either agreed to in writing by the plaintiff and the defendant or ordered by the court. Immedia…

A plaintiff may obtain a two hundred seventy-day continuing lien on wages by garnishment. A plaintiff obtaining a continuing lien on wages by garnishment shall mark "continuing lien" on the caption of the garnishee summons. Each garnishment disclosure form must provide the garnis…

When the defendant claims that the indebtedness or property, or a part thereof, is exempt from garnishment or from execution, the defendant, at or before twenty days after the service of the garnishee summons, shall file a schedule of all personal property subscribed and sworn to…

In all cases when the defendant claims the debt or property garnished to be exempt, the claim of exemptions may be heard and determined by the court at any time after the claim is made, on three days' notice to the plaintiff.