812.40.Stipulated extension.

An earnings garnishment does not have to end when its original term runs out. Section 812.40 lets the debtor and creditor stipulate in writing to extend it for additional pay periods. The extension picks up on the first day after the original garnishment ends and must end within 13 weeks after the last day of the last pay period the garnishment affected — the same outer boundary that governs an ordinary garnishment.

For the garnishee to be bound by that extension, a copy of the stipulation and the additional garnishee fee required under section 812.33 (1) must be delivered or mailed to the garnishee before the last day of the last pay period covered by the garnishment or any earlier stipulated extension. Miss that window, and the garnishee has no obligation to honor the extension.

The extension is not bulletproof. If, before the last day of the last covered pay period, a different creditor serves the garnishee under section 812.35 (3) to satisfy a separate judgment against the debtor, the stipulated extension becomes void and the garnishee must refund the extension fee. That rule keeps a private agreement between one debtor and one creditor from blocking a later garnishment by someone else with a valid claim.