(1) The answer of the garnishee shall be taken as true unless the plaintiff, within 20 days after the receipt of the answer of the garnishee, serves a reply upon the garnishee.
812.14.Answer conclusive if no reply by plaintiff; procedure following reply.
Ch. 812: Garnishment · Last amended 1975 · Last verified July 15, 2026
In one sentenceSection 812.14 treats a garnishee’s answer as true unless the plaintiff replies within 20 days, at which point the plaintiff and garnishee become opposing parties in an ordinary lawsuit that the court, not a jury, decides.
Full Text of Section 812.14
(2) Upon service of the reply, issue shall be joined between the plaintiff and garnishee, and the parties shall thereupon proceed as in ordinary civil actions.
(3) Trial of a garnishment issue shall be to the court.
Plain-English Summary
Section 812.14 gives the garnishee’s answer real weight. Once filed, it is taken as true unless the plaintiff serves a reply on the garnishee within 20 days of receiving it. Silence from the plaintiff within that window locks in whatever the garnishee disclosed, for better or worse from the plaintiff’s perspective.
If the plaintiff does reply, the section shifts the case onto an adversarial track. Serving the reply joins issue between the plaintiff and the garnishee, and from there the two proceed the way parties do in any ordinary civil action, with pleadings, evidence, and argument over what the garnishee owes or holds. The section closes with a procedural rule specific to this kind of dispute: whatever issue emerges between the plaintiff and the garnishee is tried to the court, not to a jury.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if the plaintiff never responds to the garnishee’s answer?
Section 812.14(1) says the answer is taken as true if the plaintiff does not serve a reply within 20 days after receiving it.
What does the plaintiff have to do to challenge the garnishee’s answer?
Serve a reply on the garnishee within that 20-day window; doing so joins issue and moves the dispute forward like an ordinary civil action.
Does a jury decide disputes between the plaintiff and the garnishee?
No. Section 812.14(3) specifies that trial of a garnishment issue is to the court.
What happens procedurally once the plaintiff files a reply?
Under Section 812.14(2), issue is joined between the plaintiff and the garnishee, and the parties proceed as in ordinary civil actions from that point forward.
Is there a downside to a plaintiff waiting too long to reply to a garnishee’s answer?
Yes. If the plaintiff misses the 20-day window, the garnishee’s answer is taken as true, without the plaintiff getting a chance to contest it.
Amendment History
History: Sup. Ct. Order, 67 Wis. 2d 585, 759 (1975); Stats. 1975 s. 812.14.
Source & verification. Section text and official notes are
reproduced verbatim from the Wisconsin Statutes, published by the
Wisconsin Legislature (Legislative Reference Bureau). Last verified July 15, 2026.
· Official source
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