Maine: Wage Garnishment Limits
The short answer
Maine doesn't use a traditional garnishment order for ordinary debt; it runs the whole process through a court-set installment payment order. Once a court holds a disclosure hearing, it can order the debtor to pay a set amount each week from wages, capped at the least of 25% of disposable earnings plus certain exempt income, the amount above 40 times the higher of the federal or state minimum wage, or the debtor's total disposable earnings. That formula is more protective than the plain federal test. Child and spousal support orders run on separate, higher percentages (50-65%) and aren't limited by this cap.
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This is the general rule in Maine. Ezel applies current Maine law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | 14 M.R.S. § 3126-A (installment payment order and its earnings cap); § 3127-B (order to employer or payor of earnings); § 3121 (definitions) |
|---|---|
| Maximum that can be garnished | Maine has no direct wage-garnishment order for ordinary debt; instead a court sets a periodic installment payment after a disclosure hearing. Under § 3126-A(3), the maximum any workweek's installment order can reach is the LEAST of: (A) 25% of the sum of the debtor's disposable earnings and certain exempt income (Social Security, unemployment, veterans' and disability benefits, support received, and some retirement-plan payments); (B) the amount by which that same sum exceeds 40 times the higher of the federal or Maine minimum hourly wage; or (C) the debtor's total disposable earnings. An employer then withholds under § 3127-B the lesser of the court-ordered installment amount or the maximum the formula allows |
| State rule vs. federal floor | More protective than the federal CCPA floor. Maine still uses a 25%-of-earnings prong like the federal test, but its minimum-wage-protected floor is 40 times the applicable minimum wage rather than the federal 30x, and it lets an order reach only certain exempt income sources counted toward the percentage cap rather than exempt earnings directly. It is not a bar state: an ordinary creditor can still reach disposable earnings above the protected floor |
| Minimum-wage protected floor | 40 times the minimum hourly wage prescribed by 29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1) (federal) or by 26 M.R.S. § 664 (Maine's own minimum wage), whichever is higher at the time the earnings are payable (§ 3126-A(3)(B)) — a bigger protected floor than the federal 30x multiplier whenever Maine's minimum wage (higher than the federal minimum) applies |
| Support, tax & student loan debts | Child and spousal support orders are excluded from the ordinary § 3126-A(3) cap entirely (§ 3126-A(6)(A)) and instead follow their own, higher ceiling in § 3126-A(7): 50% of disposable earnings if the debtor is supporting another spouse or child, or 60% if not, rising to 55%/65% if the support arrears predate the current 12-week period — matching the federal CCPA support ceilings exactly. Bankruptcy Chapter 13 trustee orders and state or federal tax debts are also excluded from the ordinary cap (§ 3126-A(6)(B)-(C)) and proceed under their own separate mechanisms. Federal student loan administrative wage garnishment likewise runs outside this chapter |
| Head-of-household/family exemption | No separate formula-based head-of-household exemption on top of the ordinary cap. Instead, § 3126-A(4)(A) lets the court, when actually setting the dollar amount of an installment order (which can be anywhere up to the § 3126-A(3) ceiling), take into account 'the reasonable requirements of the judgment debtor and the judgment debtor's dependents' as one discretionary factor among several — a case-by-case reduction, not a guaranteed dollar or percentage exemption for supporting a family |
| Multiple garnishments at once | No fixed first-in-time statute for installment orders. Because every order is individually set by a court after a hearing, § 3126-A(4)(B)-(C) directs the court to take into account, as factors, 'any payments the judgment debtor is required to make to satisfy other judgment orders or wage assignments' and 'other judgment orders or wage assignments that have priority' when deciding how much a new order should require — meaning competing claims on the same paycheck are resolved by judicial discretion at each hearing rather than an automatic rule. Support orders under § 3126-A(7) are excluded from the ordinary cap and are not limited by an earlier ordinary order |
| Protection from being fired | Maine's own statute protects an employee whose earnings are withheld under a § 3127-B order: 'No employer may discharge any employee because his earnings are subject to an order under this section' (§ 3127-B(6)), with no stated limit to a single garnishment the way the federal rule has. This is on top of, and broader than, the federal floor (15 U.S.C. § 1674, which only bars discharge for a first garnishment on one debt) |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law
The core limit lives in 14 M.R.S. § 3126-A, the "installment payments"
section of Maine's Enforcement of Money Judgments chapter. The actual
mechanics of getting an employer to withhold and send money to the creditor
are in § 3127-B. Definitions (including "disposable earnings") are in
§ 3121. Two older sections that used to cover similar ground, §§ 3127 and
3137, have both been repealed.
Maximum garnishment amount
Maine doesn't issue a standalone "garnishment order" for ordinary debt.
After a disclosure hearing, the court sets an installment payment the debtor
must pay the creditor each week. Under § 3126-A(3), that amount can never
exceed the least of three figures: 25% of the debtor's disposable earnings
plus certain exempt income (Social Security, unemployment, veterans' and
disability benefits, support received, and some retirement payments); the
amount by which that combined total exceeds 40 times the higher of the
federal or Maine minimum hourly wage; or the debtor's total disposable
earnings (a backstop that keeps the order from ever exceeding 100% of what's
actually reachable). Once the court sets the order, § 3127-B has the
employer withhold the lesser of the court-ordered amount or this statutory
maximum.
Federal floor comparison
More protective than the plain federal test. Maine keeps the same 25%-of-
earnings first prong as federal law, but raises the minimum-wage-protected
floor from the federal 30x multiplier to 40x. It is not a bar state —
creditors can still reach earnings above the protected floor, just less of
them than the federal minimum requires.
Minimum wage protection floor
40 times the minimum hourly wage set by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act
or by Maine's own minimum-wage statute (26 M.R.S. § 664), whichever is
higher when the earnings are paid. Because Maine's minimum wage runs above
the federal minimum, this floor is usually bigger than the federal 30x
protection.
Priority debt exceptions
Child and spousal support orders skip the ordinary cap entirely and follow
their own higher ceiling under § 3126-A(7): 50% of disposable earnings if
the debtor is supporting another spouse or child, 60% if not, rising to
55%/65% for older arrears — the same numbers as the federal CCPA support
ceiling. Bankruptcy Chapter 13 trustee orders and state or federal tax debts
are also carved out of the ordinary cap and run through their own separate
processes. Federal student loan administrative wage garnishment operates
outside this chapter altogether.
Head-of-household exemption
There's no automatic dollar or percentage exemption just for supporting a
family. Instead, when a court actually sets the dollar amount of an
installment order (up to the statutory ceiling), § 3126-A(4)(A) lets it
weigh "the reasonable requirements of the judgment debtor and the judgment
debtor's dependents" as one factor among several — a case-by-case
adjustment a debtor has to raise at the hearing, not a guaranteed exemption.
Multiple garnishments priority
Because every installment order is individually set at a court hearing,
there's no fixed first-in-time statute. § 3126-A(4)(B)-(C) directs the court
to consider, as factors, any other judgment orders or wage assignments the
debtor already owes and which of them have priority — so competing claims
on the same paycheck get sorted out by the judge at each hearing rather than
automatically. Support orders under § 3126-A(7) sit outside the ordinary cap
and aren't limited by an earlier ordinary installment order.
Employee termination protection
Maine has its own statute here, broader than federal law: "No employer may
discharge any employee because his earnings are subject to an order under
this section" (§ 3127-B(6)), with no stated limit to a first garnishment on
one debt. Federal law (15 U.S.C. § 1674) only bars discharge for a first
garnishment on a single debt.
What trips people up
Don't go looking for a Maine "garnishment percentage" the way you would in
most states — Maine routes everything through a court-ordered installment
payment set after a hearing, and the 25%/40x-minimum-wage numbers are a
ceiling on that order, not an automatic withholding rate an employer applies
on its own. Also don't assume "exempt income" like Social Security is
untouchable in the calculation: Maine actually adds it to disposable
earnings when figuring the 25% ceiling, even though the money ultimately
withheld can only come out of disposable (non-exempt) earnings.
Common questions
Does my employer just start withholding 25% of my paycheck once a creditor
sues me?
No. A court has to hold a disclosure hearing and set a specific installment
payment amount first, capped by the § 3126-A(3) formula. Only after that,
under § 3127-B, does an employer withhold anything.
Can the court order more than 25% of my paycheck?
Only for child or spousal support, which follows a separate, higher formula
(50-65% of disposable earnings) under § 3126-A(7), or for bankruptcy
Chapter 13 and tax debts, which aren't limited by this chapter's cap at all.
Can I get the amount lowered because I support a family?
You can ask the court to consider it. § 3126-A(4)(A) lets a judge take your
dependents' needs into account when setting the installment amount, but
it's not an automatic percentage cut the way some states provide.
Statutes and sources
- 14 M.R.S. § 3126-A — https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec3126-A.html (accessed 2026-07-05)
- 14 M.R.S. § 3127-B — https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec3127-B.html (accessed 2026-07-05)
- 14 M.R.S. § 3121 — https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec3121.html (accessed 2026-07-05)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1674 — https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title15/USCODE-2011-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1674 (accessed 2026-07-05)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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