§ 706.024.Amount Required to Satisfy Withholding Order
Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 2 · Chapter 5. Wage Garnishment · Article 2. General Provisions · Enacted 1992 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 706.024 explains how the amount an earnings withholding order requires an employer to satisfy is calculated — the writ's total plus service fees, statutory fees, and accruing interest, minus partial satisfactions — and lets the levying officer update that figure by written notice as payments come in.
(a)The amount required to satisfy an earnings withholding order is the total amount required to satisfy the writ of execution on the date the order is issued, with the following additions and subtractions:
(1)The addition of the statutory fee for service of the order and any other statutory fees for performing duties under the order.
(2)The addition of costs added to the order pursuant to Section 685.090.
(3)The subtraction of the amount of any partial satisfactions.
(4)The addition of daily interest accruing after issuance of the order, as adjusted for partial satisfactions.
(b)From time to time the levying officer, in the levying officer's discretion, may give written notice to the employer of the amount required to satisfy the earnings withholding order and the employer shall determine the total amount to withhold based upon the levying officer's notice, notwithstanding a different amount stated in the order originally served on the employer.
(c)If the full amount required to satisfy the earnings withholding order as stated in the order or in the levying officer's notice under subdivision (b) is withheld from the judgment debtor's earnings, interest ceases to accrue on that amount.
Plain-English Summary
The dollar figure printed on the original earnings withholding order isn't necessarily the final number an employer withholds toward. Subdivision (a) builds the running total: start with the amount needed to satisfy the writ of execution on the date the order issued, add the statutory service fee and any other statutory fees for performing duties under the order, add costs added under § 685.090, subtract any partial satisfactions already received, and add daily interest that keeps accruing after issuance (adjusted as partial payments come in).
Because interest keeps accruing and payments keep arriving, the levying officer can send the employer a written notice updating the amount still owed, and the employer follows that updated figure rather than whatever number was on the order as originally served. Once the full amount required — whether from the order or a later notice — has been withheld, interest stops accruing on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the amount an employer withholds stay fixed at the number on the original order?
Not necessarily. The levying officer can update it by written notice to reflect interest, added costs, and partial payments, and the employer follows that updated amount.
What gets added to or subtracted from the original writ amount?
Added: the statutory service fee, other statutory fees for performing duties under the order, costs added under § 685.090, and accruing daily interest. Subtracted: any partial satisfactions already received.
Does interest keep accruing forever?
No. Once the full amount required to satisfy the order — as stated in the order or a later levying-officer notice — has been withheld, interest stops accruing on that amount.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1992, Ch. 283, Sec. 6. Effective July 21, 1992.
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
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