(a) Upon the garnishment of earnings due from a garnishee, the garnishee shall:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 26-2-214

  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • Court: means the court of general sessions, the courts of record or any other courts duly established under the law of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 26-2-201
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
(1) Pay the judgment debtor the amount of such debtor’s exempt earnings;
(2) Submit as a part of the judgment debtor’s answer to the garnishment a statement of the judgment debtor’s dependent children under sixteen (16) years of age who are residents of this state; and
(3) Furnish the judgment debtor with a copy of the garnishment summons containing the notice of the judgment debtor’s right to the exemptions from wage garnishment specified in federal law and in §§ 26-2-106 and 26-2-107 of the right to apply to the court for an order staying further garnishment and allowing the judgment debtor to pay the judgment in installments, and of procedures the judgment debtor can follow to contest the garnishment.
(b)

(1) To the extent of the amount due upon the judgment and costs, the garnishee shall hold, subject to the order of the court, any nonexempt earnings due or that subsequently become due. The judgment or balance due is a lien on earnings due at the time of the service of the execution. The lien shall continue as to subsequent earnings until the total amount due upon the judgment and costs is paid or satisfied, or until the expiration of the payment period immediately prior to six (6) calendar months after service of the execution, whichever occurs first. The lien on subsequent earnings shall terminate sooner if the relationship between judgment debtor and garnishee is terminated or if the underlying judgment is vacated or modified.
(2) A lien obtained under this section shall have priority over any subsequent liens obtained under this section.
(c) Nothing in this section with respect to the relationship between the judgment debtor and the garnishee shall be construed to affect the underlying relationship of the parties, including, but not limited to, the relationship of employer-employee or the independent contractor relationship as otherwise provided by law.
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