# Post-judgment garnishment

Source: https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/post-judgment-garnishment/
Author: John P. Henry, John Henry & Associates, PLLC
Reviewed: 2026-08-02

**Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 63.001; Tex. R. Civ. P. 657–679**

## How do you garnish a judgment debtor's accounts or receivables in Texas?

On a valid subsisting judgment, an affidavit that within the plaintiff’s knowledge the debtor does not have property in Texas subject to execution sufficient to satisfy it, and a bond. The writ issues from the clerk and binds whatever the garnishee owes the debtor as of service — which is why garnishment reaches receivables and affiliated entities, not only banks.

> A writ of garnishment is available if … a plaintiff has a valid, subsisting judgment and makes an affidavit stating that, within the plaintiff’s knowledge, the defendant does not possess property in Texas subject to execution sufficient to satisfy the judgment.

— Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 63.001(3)

## When it applies

A debtor who banks somewhere you can identify, or who is owed money by entities you can name. It is the fastest of the post-judgment remedies because the clerk issues the writ — there is no hearing to set and no judge to persuade.

## How it is proved up

1. Get the affidavit exactly right. Garnishment is strictly construed and the affidavit is the jurisdictional document; a defect in it is not amendable in the way an ordinary pleading defect is.
2. Say how you know the debtor lacks sufficient property — the post-judgment discovery served, the responses not received, the writ returned nulla bona. “Within plaintiff’s knowledge” is a statement about your own diligence and it should be able to survive being tested.
3. Name each garnishee separately and serve each one. The writ binds what that garnishee holds at service, so a garnishee served a week late may hold nothing.
4. Expect the garnishee to answer rather than pay. Budget for the garnishee’s attorney’s fees, which are commonly taxed against the funds.
5. Consider entities, not just banks. A judgment debtor who runs receipts through single-purpose companies is owed money by them, and those debts are garnishable.

## What defeats it

- Current wages, which are exempt under Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 28 — the single biggest limit on garnishment in Texas and the reason it is a commercial remedy rather than a consumer one.
- A defective affidavit, which is fatal rather than curable.
- An account held jointly or in another’s name, which invites a claim by the third party and a trial of ownership.
- A garnishee that owed nothing on the day of service. Timing is everything and there is no lien on future obligations.

## Where I have used it

Walker v. Bank of Texas (garnishee), judgment debtor Gallardo · Cause No. D-1-GN-15-000708, 53rd Judicial District Court, Travis County. Counsel for the judgment creditor and garnishor. Writ issued February 2015 on a $686,095.00 judgment with $136,344.00 of principal unpaid; the bank answered that it held $1,767.97 across two accounts; the judgment debtor was served under Rule 663a and never appeared. Judgment in garnishment signed 27 May 2016 for $967.97, with $800.00 awarded to the garnishee for its fees under Rule 677 and the writ dissolved. Those numbers are the honest measure of the remedy: it captures what the garnishee holds on the day it is served, and the garnishee gets paid first.

## Questions

**Can you garnish wages in Texas?**

Not current wages for personal services, which are exempt under article XVI, section 28 of the Texas Constitution. Wages already paid and deposited lose that character, which is why garnishment of a bank account can reach what garnishment of the employer cannot.

**Do you need a judgment to garnish in Texas?**

Not always. Section 63.001(3) is the post-judgment ground, but subsections (1) and (2) support garnishment before judgment where an original attachment has issued or where the plaintiff sues for a debt and makes the required affidavit.

**What does a writ of garnishment actually capture?**

What the garnishee owes the debtor, and what of the debtor’s property the garnishee holds, as of service of the writ. It is a snapshot, not a continuing lien.


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