Except as otherwise provided in this chapter:
§ 706.023.Compliance With Orders Served Upon Employer
Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 2 · Chapter 5. Wage Garnishment · Article 2. General Provisions · Last amended 2012 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 706.023 sets the rules for handling competing earnings withholding orders on the same employee, generally giving priority to whichever order was served first and making a later order ineffective while an earlier one remains in effect, subject to special treatment for elder or dependent adult financial abuse orders.
Full Text of § 706.023
(a) An employer shall comply with the first earnings withholding order served upon the employer.
(b) If the employer is served with two or more earnings withholding orders on the same day, the employer shall comply with the order issued pursuant to the judgment first entered. If two or more orders served on the same day are based on judgments entered upon the same day, the employer shall comply with whichever one of the orders the employer selects.
(c) If an earnings withholding order is served while an employer is required to comply with another earnings withholding order with respect to the earnings of the same employee, the subsequent order is ineffective and the employer shall not withhold earnings pursuant to the subsequent order, except as provided in subdivision (d).
(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, a withholding order for elder or dependent adult financial abuse has priority over any other earning withholding order except for a withholding order for support under Section 706.030 and a withholding order for taxes under Section 706.072.
(1) An employer upon whom a withholding order for elder or dependent adult financial abuse is served shall withhold and pay over earnings of the employee pursuant to that order notwithstanding the requirements of another earnings withholding order except as provided in paragraph (2).
(2) An employer shall not withhold earnings of an employee pursuant to an earnings withholding order for elder or dependent adult financial abuse if a withholding order for support or for taxes is in effect or if a prior withholding order for elder or dependent adult financial abuse is in effect. In that case, the subsequent withholding order for elder or dependent financial abuse is ineffective.
(3) When an employer is required to cease withholding earnings pursuant to a prior earnings withholding order, the employer shall notify the levying officer who served the prior earnings withholding order that a supervening earnings withholding order for elder or dependent financial abuse is in effect.
Plain-English Summary
An employer can only comply with one ordinary earnings withholding order at a time for a given employee. Section 706.023 supplies the tiebreaker rules: comply with the first order served; if two or more orders arrive the same day, follow the one tied to the earliest-entered judgment, and if the judgments were entered the same day too, the employer picks. Once an order is in effect, a later one is ineffective — the employer doesn't withhold under it — unless subdivision (d) applies.
Subdivision (d) creates a narrow exception for a withholding order tied to an elder or dependent adult financial abuse judgment. That order jumps ahead of an ordinary earnings withholding order already in place, though it still yields to a withholding order for support under § 706.030 and a withholding order for taxes under § 706.072. When an employer has to stop withholding under an earlier order because a supervening elder-abuse order takes over, the employer must notify the levying officer who served the earlier order.
This priority scheme is distinct from — and interacts with — the support and tax priority rules elsewhere in the chapter. § 706.030 gives a withholding order for support top priority over everything, and § 706.077 gives a withholding order for taxes priority over an ordinary earnings withholding order.
Frequently Asked Questions
If two creditors both try to garnish my wages, which order does my employer follow?
Ordinarily, whichever order was served first. If two orders are served the same day, the employer follows the one based on the earlier-entered judgment, or picks between them if the judgments were entered on the same day.
What happens to a second earnings withholding order served while an earlier one is still active?
Section 706.023(c) makes it ineffective — the employer keeps withholding under the first order and disregards the later one, except where the elder or dependent adult financial abuse priority in subdivision (d) applies.
Does an elder or dependent adult financial abuse order always take priority?
What must the employer do when a higher-priority order takes over?
Notify the levying officer who served the earlier order that a supervening order is now in effect, so withholding under the earlier order stops in an orderly way.
Amendment History
Amended by Stats 2010 ch 64 (AB 2619),s 2, eff. 1/1/2011, op. 1/1/2012.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: multiple wage garnishments priority californiawhich garnishment order takes priority