§ 63.004.Current Wages Exempt

The most consequential sentence in the chapter for most people.

Except as otherwise provided by state or federal law, current wages for personal service are not subject to garnishment.

Texas is unusual in this. Most states allow wage garnishment for ordinary debts, subject to federal percentage limits; Texas does not, and the protection is grounded in the state constitution as well as this section.

The practical consequence for creditors is substantial. A judgment against an employed individual with no reachable assets may be uncollectable in Texas however large it is.

The exception is where the work is. Child support is withheld under the Family Code, federal student loans under the Higher Education Act, and federal tax debts and certain federal claims under their own statutes.

Each of those is "otherwise provided by state or federal law", and each overrides the exemption within its own field.

"Current wages for personal service" is the protected category, and each word does work. Wages already paid and deposited are no longer current, and a bank account holding them can be garnished — which is why the protection is often lost in practice.

"For personal service" excludes payments that are not compensation for work, so an independent contractor’s receivables may be reachable where an employee’s wages are not.

The second sentence protects the employer: the garnishee shall be discharged from the garnishment as to any debt to the defendant for current wages.

That discharge matters. An employer served with a writ answers, states the debt is current wages, and is released — rather than holding funds and awaiting a ruling.