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S_MT PASS-21 — Montana ordinary unsecured consumer-debt wage garnishment and earnings exemptions/procedure

Fresh research session: October 26, 2026, Pacific / October 26, 2026, UTC Mode: Regular Chat with public primary-source browsing Relationship to prior work: Distinct wage-garnishment component. PASS-18 and PASS-08 through PASS-17 remain unreviewed and are not accepted as premises. Necessary narrow judgment and execution authorities were freshly read. PASS-19 and PASS-20 are unrelated bounded corrections and are not used as wage-garnishment authority.

Component status: PARTIAL. Montana’s ordinary postjudgment wage-levy route, continuing levy, employer service and remittance requirements, federal/Montana earnings cap, exemption-notice and hearing process, multiple-writ priority, traceable deposited-wage boundary, and anti-retaliation rules are established. Employer default liability, independent-contractor treatment, certain mixed-income categories, municipal-court implementation, local form practices, and the effect of a late Montana exemption claim on federally excessive withholding remain unresolved.

I. Core determinations

1. An ordinary consumer creditor does not garnish wages merely by obtaining a debt, assigning an account, enrolling a consumer in debt relief, or even entering judgment. The creditor must obtain a writ of execution, have the writ lawfully served on the employer, and remain within the writ and judgment-enforcement periods. Montana’s Supreme Court has similarly stated that the earnings-exemption statute does not eliminate the need to execute on a judgment or enforceable order before garnishment. Justia Law
2. Montana’s ordinary wage process is a continuing levy under a writ of execution—not a separate modern “garnishment summons and interrogatories” action. The writ identifies the judgment and amount due; when served on an employer, it must be accompanied by a document reasonably describing the earnings protections in MCA §25-13-614. No separate current statewide ordinary-wage “garnishee answer” form or interrogatory procedure was located in the reviewed current statutes and official Judicial Branch forms. Montana Code Annotated+1
3. The continuing wage levy begins when the writ is served on the employer and generally lasts 120 days or until the judgment is satisfied, whichever occurs first. It reaches earnings due on or after service through the levy’s expiration. The employer must remit each withheld amount to the sheriff or levying officer within five days after withholding. Montana Code Annotated
4. Service on the employer has exact statutory predicates. Personal service may be made on an officer, supervising employee, or designated processing person. Mail service is available only when the third party has given written consent to mail service. When mail is authorized, service is deemed effective on actual receipt, but no later than five business days after mailing. Montana Code Annotated
5. The ordinary earnings cap is the lesser of two amounts:

min⁡(25%×disposable earnings, max⁡(0,disposable earnings−30×federal minimum wage))\boxed{ \min\left( 25%\times\text{disposable earnings}, \ \max(0,\text{disposable earnings}-30\times\text{federal minimum wage}) \right) }min(25%×disposable earnings, max(0,disposable earnings−30×federal minimum wage))​Montana incorporates the federal definitions of earnings, disposable earnings, and garnishment. With the current federal minimum wage of $7.25, the protected weekly floor is $217.50, and the 25% branch becomes the limiting branch at weekly disposable earnings of $290.00 or more. Montana Code Annotated+2

1. The formula uses the federal minimum wage, not Montana’s state minimum wage. It uses the federal minimum wage in effect when the earnings are payable, so a future federal change would prospectively change the protected-dollar threshold for future pay periods. Montana Code Annotated+1

2. “Disposable earnings” do not mean take-home pay after every payroll deduction. They mean earnings remaining after deductions required by law. Federal, state, and local taxes and legally required Social Security and Medicare deductions are examples. Voluntary health insurance, union dues, charitable contributions, voluntary retirement deductions, and similar elections do not reduce disposable earnings for this formula. U.S. Code+1

3. For an ordinary consumer judgment, Montana has no dependent, spouse, head-of-household, or family-size reduction beyond the ordinary formula. The 50%, 55%, 60%, and 65% branches involving a spouse or dependent child are support-order rules and are outside this ordinary-debt component. Montana Code Annotated

4. The cap is aggregate. Multiple ordinary writs do not each receive 25%. Montana gives multiple wage levies priority according to the date and time served on the employer, while federal law limits the aggregate withheld amount. A second ordinary creditor receives only whatever lawful capacity remains after higher-priority orders; when the first ordinary levy uses the full cap, the second receives nothing during that overlap. Montana Code Annotated+1

5. The federal ceiling is a restriction on the process, not merely an affirmative defense the employee must discover and plead. The employer, levying officer, and court should not authorize withholding above the federal/Montana ceiling. Montana nevertheless supplies a separate written exemption-claim process for contesting seized property or asserting exemption facts. eCFR+1

6. The officer must notify the debtor within five days after seizure. The notice must identify what was seized, the case and creditor, potential exemptions, and the method for asserting an exemption and obtaining a hearing. It may be personally served or mailed to the last-known address; mailed notice is complete when placed in the mail. Montana Code Annotated

7. **A Montana exemption-hearing request is due within ten days, excluding weekends and holidays.**After personal service, the period runs from actual receipt.After mailed notice, it runs from the date the officer mailed the notice.The request must identify the property, explain the exemption, and include supporting documents.Copies must be mailed the same day to the creditor or counsel and to the sheriff or levying officer.

   The court must hold the hearing within ten days, excluding weekends and holidays, after receiving the request. Failure to make a timely claim bars the exemption claim in the seized property under the state statute. Montana Code Annotated

8. A generic statement such as “all my property is exempt” is insufficient. Montana’s Supreme Court requires the request to describe the property, explain the legal and factual basis, and provide supporting documentation. The exemption hearing is not a vehicle for relitigating the original debt, collection lawsuit, credit-report claim, or tort theory. Justia Law+1

9. The sheriff or levying officer ordinarily holds nonperishable levied property or money for ten days, excluding weekends and holidays, after notifying the debtor before paying the creditor. That statutory hold provides an initial opportunity to assert an exemption. It does not establish that an informal complaint, settlement negotiation, validation request, or regulatory complaint automatically stays the levy beyond the statute or a court order. Montana Code Annotated

10. Exempt wages remain protected for 45 days after receipt while they remain traceable. Montana allows first-in-first-out, last-in-first-out, or another reasonable tracing method selected by the debtor. This is only the necessary crossover; bank-account levy, benefit tracing, and commingled-fund analysis remain for a later pass. Montana Code Annotated

11. Bonuses and commissions are expressly within the federal definition of earnings. Periodic pension or retirement payments also appear in the federal definition, but separate pension and retirement exemptions were not researched here. Tips are ordinarily not treated as employer-paid earnings under current Department of Labor guidance; employer-paid service charges or other payroll distributions require their actual characterization. U.S. Code+1

12. Independent-contractor, gig, and self-employment income cannot be classified from a “1099” label alone. Federal law broadly refers to compensation for personal services, but Montana’s continuing wage levy is framed around an employer and earnings due. Montana’s Supreme Court has held that a self-employed person’s entire business bank account is not automatically exempt as “earnings.” Actual worker status, payer relationship, receivable structure, payroll treatment, and account path remain necessary. Justia Law+1

13. The employer has role-specific duties but no reviewed statute creates an automatic employer default judgment for every mistake. The employer must recognize valid service, apply the aggregate cap and priority rules, respond to the levy as required, withhold future earnings during the continuing levy, and remit amounts within five days. If the employer denies owing money or claims an adverse interest, Montana permits supplemental proceedings and potentially a separate action. Contempt can follow disobedience of a proper court or referee order; it is not automatic from an ordinary payroll error. Montana Code Annotated+1

14. No ordinary Montana wage-garnishment processing fee payable to the employer was located in the current reviewed execution statutes. No wage-garnishment-specific employer record-retention period or current statewide employer “answer” form was located either. That is a bounded search result, not proof that no payroll, tax, sector, local, or contractual requirement exists.

15. Montana’s employment anti-retaliation statute is broader on its face than the federal one-debt rule. Montana prohibits an employer from discharging or laying off an employee because an attachment or garnishment was served against the employee’s wages, without limiting the text to one indebtedness. The federal CCPA prohibits discharge because earnings were garnished for any one indebtedness and creates criminal sanctions for willful violation. Montana Code Annotated+1

16. The Montana statute’s remedy and forum are unresolved in this pass. The separate civil-action remedy in MCA §39-2-314 applies by its text to §39-2-313, not §39-2-302. No controlling Montana Supreme Court decision construing a private remedy under §39-2-302 was located in the bounded search. Federal Wage and Hour Division enforcement can include reinstatement, back wages, and restoration of improperly garnished amounts under the federal provisions. Web Apps DOL

17. Prejudgment wage freezing is distinct. Sniadach held that prejudgment wage garnishment without prior notice and hearing violated due process in the procedure before it. This report addresses execution after a valid money judgment; it does not approve prejudgment attachment or garnishment. GovInfo

II. Court, actor, and route matrix

Justice and City Court Rule 23 states that the writ remains in effect for 120 days from the officer’s receipt and may be served multiple times during that period; MCA §25-13-402 separately says a wage levy continues for 120 days from service. The exact outer interaction where service occurs materially after officer receipt is not expressly reconciled in the reviewed authorities and remains held. Montana Code Annotated+1

III. End-to-end ordinary wage-garnishment workflow

The ordinary execution statutes do not state that an FDCPA validation request, credit-report dispute, provider complaint, settlement proposal, or informal payroll objection stops this sequence. A court order, valid exemption order, satisfaction, bankruptcy stay, or other controlling law may do so, but those predicates must actually exist. Montana Code Annotated+2

IV. Earnings, disposable earnings, and the ordinary cap

A. Statutory definitions

B. Required versus voluntary payroll deductions

C. Current pay-period thresholds

Using the current federal minimum wage of $7.25:

The regulations convert longer pay periods by the number or fraction of workweeks; a calendar month is treated as 4⅓ workweeks. The current Department of Labor table supplies the displayed cents. eCFR+1

D. Ordinary-debt formula

For weekly disposable earnings DDD:

A=0.25DA=0.25DA=0.25DB=max⁡(0,D−$217.50)B=\max(0,D-$217.50)B=max(0,D−$217.50)Maximum ordinary withholding=min⁡(A,B)\boxed{\text{Maximum ordinary withholding}=\min(A,B)}Maximum ordinary withholding=min(A,B)​The same structure applies after substituting the protected threshold for a different pay period. Numerical agreement does not establish that the judgment, balance, service, priority, or writ is legally valid.

E. Income-category matrix

V. Multiple writs, aggregation, and priority

1. Montana priority among wage levies is determined by the date and time served on the employer, subject to other state or federal priority law. Montana Code Annotated
2. The aggregate earnings cap does not multiply with the number of writs. If three ordinary creditors serve writs and the employee’s lawful ordinary withholding capacity is $150.00, their combined ordinary recovery cannot exceed $150.00 for that pay period. eCFR
3. A later ordinary writ can receive only the remaining capacity after earlier-priority orders. When the first ordinary levy uses the entire ordinary cap, the next ordinary levy receives $0.00 during the overlap. If the first levy terminates while the second remains within its own lawful 120-day term, the second may begin receiving available capacity, subject to accurate notice and records.
4. Support, bankruptcy, tax, federal administrative, and education-debt orders can use different percentages and priorities. MCA §25-13-402 expressly preserves other state and federal priority laws. Those orders are not calculated in this ordinary-debt report. Montana Code Annotated+1
5. The statutes use “aggregate disposable earnings,” but no reviewed Montana provision supplies a complete coordination procedure where an individual simultaneously earns wages from multiple employers. Application across multiple employers is therefore held pending actual payroll and court-order facts.

VI. Exemption notice, claim, hearing, and release

A. Notice content and service

Within five days after seizure, the officer must notify the judgment debtor of:

• The property or money seized.
• The title of the proceeding.
• The date of seizure.
• The judgment creditor.
• The possibility that the property may be exempt.
• How to assert an exemption.
• How to obtain a hearing. Montana Code Annotated

Personal notice and mailed notice use different statutory triggers. A mailed notice is complete upon mailing, not actual receipt, for the state claim deadline. That makes the actual mailing date critical. Montana Code Annotated+1

B. Written claim content

A proper claim should identify:

1. The specific wages, pay period, payment, or other property claimed exempt.
2. The statutory or factual reason for exemption.
3. Supporting payroll statements, account statements, deduction records, benefit records, or other relevant material.
4. The requested relief.
5. Proof that same-day copies were mailed to the creditor or counsel and the officer.

The statute does not expressly allocate a formal “burden of persuasion,” but it places the obligation to describe, explain, and document the claim on the debtor. CBI v. McCrea rejected a generic statutory citation and required a property-specific, documented claim. Montana Code Annotated+1

C. Timing matrix

No additional three “mail days” are added by these statutes. An exact calendar date is held unless the actual method, receipt or mailing date, holidays, court-access facts, and any order are known. Montana Code Annotated+1

D. Automatic cap versus claimed exemption

The ordinary earnings ceiling should be applied before withholding because:

• MCA §25-13-614 defines the earnings above the ceiling as exempt.
• The writ served on an employer must be accompanied by an exemption description.
• 15 U.S.C. §1673(c) forbids execution process violating the federal limit.
• The federal regulation says the ceiling is a restriction on garnishment rather than merely an affirmative defense. Montana Code Annotated+1

The state claim process remains important when:

• Payroll used the wrong deductions.
• The pay-period conversion was incorrect.
• Multiple writs exceeded the aggregate cap.
• The employee disputes whether funds are earnings.
• Traceable exempt wages were later levied in an account.
• The debtor claims an additional exemption.
• The officer or employer used incorrect identity or account information.

The precise remedy for a federally excessive withholding where the debtor missed Montana’s ten-day state claim period was not resolved in the reviewed Montana authorities.

E. Scope of hearing

The hearing addresses the exemption and disposition of the seized property. It does not ordinarily reopen:

• Contract formation.
• Standing.
• Assignment chain.
• Judgment amount.
• Credit reporting.
• FDCPA damages.
• Provider licensing.
• Tort claims.

McCrea treated the exemption proceeding as a discrete execution matter. A separate motion, appeal, satisfaction proceeding, or independent claim may be required for other issues. Justia Law+1

F. Constitutional background

Montana’s Supreme Court has emphasized that exemption rights are property interests and that postjudgment seizure requires prompt notice of the seizure, available exemptions, and a prompt opportunity to be heard. The current §§25-13-211 and 212 implement that framework. Justia Law+1

VII. Employer duties, objections, liability, and defenses

A. Employer-service rules

A levy on a corporation or other entity may be served personally on the appropriate officer, supervising employee, or designated person. Mail service requires the third party’s written consent. If an employee receiving a mailed writ is not the processing person, the statutory notice must require forwarding to the correct processor. Service is effective on receipt and no later than five business days after mailing. Montana Code Annotated

B. Employer’s principal duties

C. No current statewide employer interrogatory form identified

The reviewed modern Montana statutes use:

• A writ of execution.
• Third-party response and delivery.
• Continuing payroll withholding.
• Supplemental proceedings if property or indebtedness is disputed.

They do not provide the older-style universal “garnishee’s answer to interrogatories” as the central ordinary wage process. The official Judicial Branch forms page lists writs, execution documents, and notices of seizure, but no separate current employer-answer form. Montana Courts

D. Employer disputes or adverse claims

If the employer or another third party:

• Denies owing the debtor;
• Denies holding the debtor’s property; or
• Claims an adverse interest,

the court may authorize the judgment creditor to bring a separate action against the third party and may restrain transfer pending that litigation. Supplemental proceedings also permit examination of a third party believed to owe more than $50.00 or hold property of the debtor. Montana Code Annotated+1

E. Employer liability and default

No reviewed current ordinary-wage statute states that:

• Every inaccurate payroll answer creates an automatic judgment against the employer.
• Every late remittance automatically makes the employer liable for the full employee judgment.
• A fixed processing penalty applies.
• A fixed employer fee may be deducted from the employee’s wages.

Potential consequences instead may depend on:

• A separate action under §25-14-104.
• A court or referee order.
• Contempt for disobeying a proper order.
• General damages law.
• Federal CCPA enforcement.
• Actual loss and causation.

Those branches require their own facts and authority.

F. Potential employer defenses and factual issues

Possible issues include:

• The named worker is not the judgment debtor.
• The entity was not properly served.
• The recipient lacked the statutory role.
• Mail service lacked written consent.
• The person is not an employee.
• No earnings were due during the levy.
• A prior writ or superior order exhausted capacity.
• The judgment was satisfied.
• The writ expired.
• The amount exceeded the earnings ceiling.
• The employer had already remitted the funds.
• The payment was not “earnings.”

No defense is approved here without the actual writ, service record, payroll, and court order.

VIII. Employment anti-retaliation

A. Montana rule

MCA §39-2-302 states:

“No employer shall discharge or lay off an employee because of attachment or garnishment served on the employer against the wages of the employee.”

The text does not limit protection to one indebtedness. It expressly addresses discharge and layoff; it does not expressly address reduced hours, demotion, discipline, refusal to promote, schedule changes, or other adverse action. Montana Code Annotated

B. Federal rule

The federal CCPA prohibits discharge because an employee’s earnings were subjected to garnishment for any one indebtedness. A willful violation can result in a fine of up to $1,000.00, imprisonment for up to one year, or both. The Wage and Hour Division enforces the federal title. U.S. Code+1

C. One debt versus multiple debts

Federal law expressly preserves state laws that prohibit or more restrict garnishment or provide broader employment protection. U.S. Code

D. Remedy hold

No controlling Montana appellate decision or express private-remedy provision for §39-2-302 was located. Section 39-2-314’s express civil remedy applies to §39-2-313. This report therefore does not promise reinstatement, damages, attorney fees, or a particular forum under Montana law. Federal Wage and Hour Division relief is a separate public-enforcement route. Web Apps DOL

IX. Material judicial decisions

Mease: ¶54, printed page 19, zero-based PDF index 18. Justia Law Salminen: ¶¶23–24, printed pages 10–11, PDF indices 9–10. Justia Law CBI: ¶¶14–18, printed pages 5–7, PDF indices 4–6. Justia Law Winters: ¶¶54–55, printed pages 19–20, PDF indices 18–19. Justia Law Dorwart: ¶¶74–103 in the full opinion reproduction. Justia Law Sniadach: 395 U.S. 337, materially printed pages 339–342, PDF indices 2–5. GovInfo

X. Official public forms and instructions

The Montana Judicial Branch’s current Civil Forms page identifies the postjudgment collection forms below. The governing statutes and rules control over any form. The individual Word files were not parseable through the public browsing route, so their internal revision dates, every field, and complete instructions were not authenticated. Montana Courts

No current official Montana employer-answer, employer-processing-fee, or wage-garnishment-interrogatory form was identified in the reviewed official form inventory.

XI. Consolidated actor/stage/evidence matrix

XII. Worked examples

Example 1 — Weekly disposable earnings below the protected floor

Assumptions

• Ordinary consumer judgment.
• Valid writ and employer service.
• Weekly disposable earnings: $200.00.
• No higher-priority special order.

25% branch:

$200.00×25%=$50.00$200.00\times25%=$50.00$200.00×25%=$50.00Excess-over-floor branch:

max⁡(0,$200.00−$217.50)=$0.00\max(0,$200.00-$217.50)=$0.00max(0,$200.00−$217.50)=$0.00Maximum:

min⁡($50.00,$0.00)=$0.00\min($50.00,$0.00)=\boxed{$0.00}min($50.00,$0.00)=$0.00​No ordinary wage amount is available.

Example 2 — Weekly disposable earnings in the intermediate band

Disposable earnings: $250.00

25% branch:

$250.00×25%=$62.50$250.00\times25%=$62.50$250.00×25%=$62.50Excess branch:

$250.00−$217.50=$32.50$250.00-$217.50=$32.50$250.00−$217.50=$32.50Maximum:

min⁡($62.50,$32.50)=$32.50\min($62.50,$32.50)=\boxed{$32.50}min($62.50,$32.50)=$32.50​## Example 3 — Weekly disposable earnings above the crossover

Disposable earnings: $400.00

25% branch:

$400.00×25%=$100.00$400.00\times25%=$100.00$400.00×25%=$100.00Excess branch:

$400.00−$217.50=$182.50$400.00-$217.50=$182.50$400.00−$217.50=$182.50Maximum:

min⁡($100.00,$182.50)=$100.00\min($100.00,$182.50)=\boxed{$100.00}min($100.00,$182.50)=$100.00​## Example 4 — Biweekly payroll

Disposable earnings: $500.00 Biweekly protected floor: $435.00

25% branch:

$500.00×25%=$125.00$500.00\times25%=$125.00$500.00×25%=$125.00Excess branch:

$500.00−$435.00=$65.00$500.00-$435.00=$65.00$500.00−$435.00=$65.00Maximum:

min⁡($125.00,$65.00)=$65.00\min($125.00,$65.00)=\boxed{$65.00}min($125.00,$65.00)=$65.00​## Example 5 — Semimonthly payroll

Disposable earnings: $700.00 Semimonthly protected floor: $471.25

25% branch:

$700.00×25%=$175.00$700.00\times25%=$175.00$700.00×25%=$175.00Excess branch:

$700.00−$471.25=$228.75$700.00-$471.25=$228.75$700.00−$471.25=$228.75Maximum:

min⁡($175.00,$228.75)=$175.00\min($175.00,$228.75)=\boxed{$175.00}min($175.00,$228.75)=$175.00​## Example 6 — Monthly payroll

Disposable earnings: $1,000.00 Monthly protected floor: $942.50

25% branch:

$1,000.00×25%=$250.00$1,000.00\times25%=$250.00$1,000.00×25%=$250.00Excess branch:

$1,000.00−$942.50=$57.50$1,000.00-$942.50=$57.50$1,000.00−$942.50=$57.50Maximum:

min⁡($250.00,$57.50)=$57.50\min($250.00,$57.50)=\boxed{$57.50}min($250.00,$57.50)=$57.50​## Example 7 — Required versus voluntary deductions

Weekly gross earnings: $1,000.00

Deductions:

• Federal, state, Social Security, and Medicare required by law: $200.00.
• Voluntary health-insurance deduction: $100.00.
• Voluntary retirement contribution: $50.00.

Disposable earnings for garnishment:

$1,000.00−$200.00=$800.00$1,000.00-$200.00=\boxed{$800.00}$1,000.00−$200.00=$800.00​The $150.00 in voluntary deductions does not reduce disposable earnings.

25% branch:

$800.00×25%=$200.00$800.00\times25%=$200.00$800.00×25%=$200.00Excess branch:

$800.00−$217.50=$582.50$800.00-$217.50=$582.50$800.00−$217.50=$582.50Maximum:

$200.00\boxed{$200.00}$200.00​The employee’s actual cash pay will be lower after voluntary deductions, but the CCPA cap remains $200.00.

Example 8 — Multiple ordinary creditors

Weekly disposable earnings: $600.00

Aggregate ordinary cap:

25%×$600.00=$150.0025%\times$600.00=$150.0025%×$600.00=$150.00$600.00−$217.50=$382.50$600.00-$217.50=$382.50$600.00−$217.50=$382.50min⁡($150.00,$382.50)=$150.00\min($150.00,$382.50)=\boxed{$150.00}min($150.00,$382.50)=$150.00​Assume:

• Creditor A’s writ was served first.
• Creditor B’s writ was served later.
• No special-priority order exists.

Potential allocation during overlap:

• Creditor A: up to $150.00.
• Creditor B: $0.00.

The two creditors do not each receive $150.00. If A’s levy terminates while B’s writ remains effective, B may then use available capacity.

Example 9 — Employee supports three dependents

Facts

• Ordinary credit-card judgment.
• Weekly disposable earnings: $600.00.
• Employee supports three dependent children.

The ordinary formula remains:

$150.00\boxed{$150.00}$150.00​The number of dependents does not reduce the ordinary cap under §25-13-614(2). The dependent percentages belong to support-order enforcement and are not imported into an ordinary consumer judgment.

Example 10 — Worker classification unknown

Facts

• Individual receives $1,200.00 twice monthly from a digital platform.
• Platform calls the worker an independent contractor.
• Payment may compensate personal services but is not processed as payroll.
• No ordinary employer-employee records are supplied.

Held result

No exact continuing-wage withholding amount is calculated. Necessary facts include:

• Employment status.
• Who owes the money.
• Whether payment is earnings or an account receivable.
• Whether legally required deductions exist.
• Whether Montana’s employer-directed continuing wage levy applies.
• Whether a nonwage third-party levy is the proper route.

A “1099” label is not enough.

Example 11 — Exemption request with missing service date

Facts

• Debtor finds a seizure notice.
• It does not show whether notice was personally served or mailed.
• Mailing date and receipt date are unknown.
• Debtor claims payroll used voluntary deductions incorrectly.

Result

No calendar deadline is supplied.

Alternative triggers:

• Personal service: ten days excluding weekends and holidays from actual receipt.
• Mail: ten days excluding weekends and holidays from the officer’s mailing date.

The claim should identify the affected paycheck, the gross and required deductions, the amount withheld, and supporting pay records. The uncertainty over service does not authorize inventing an extension.

Example 12 — Retaliation after one debt and after a second debt

First indebtedness

Employer fires an employee solely because one wage writ was served.

• Federal §1674 applies.
• Montana §39-2-302 also applies on its text.

Second distinct indebtedness

Employer fires the employee after a second distinct debt produces another writ.

• The federal provision’s specific “one indebtedness” protection may no longer supply the same protection.
• Montana’s text has no one-debt qualifier and still prohibits discharge or layoff because of garnishment.

The Montana remedy and forum remain unresolved; no damages outcome is promised.

Example 13 — Continuing writ expires or judgment is satisfied

Facts

• Employer was validly served on Day S.
• The levy’s marked expiration is 120 days later.
• Earnings become payable during the term.
• Judgment is fully satisfied on Day S+75.

Result

The wage levy terminates on Day S+75 because satisfaction occurs before the 120-day expiration. Earnings due afterward are not withheld under that levy.

If the judgment instead remains unpaid:

• Earnings due through the lawful expiration remain covered.
• The employer remits amounts within five days after withholding.
• A later writ requires a new lawful issuance and service.

No conclusion is made that a writ automatically follows the worker to another employer.

Example 14 — Correct cap math but disputed underlying balance

Facts

• Employer correctly calculates $100.00 as the pay-period cap.
• Debtor argues the judgment creditor failed to credit a $500.00 payment.
• Debtor timely requests an earnings-exemption hearing.

Result

The $100.00 payroll calculation does not prove the current judgment balance. But the exemption hearing ordinarily is not the forum for relitigating payment credits or the original judgment. A satisfaction, credit, motion, or other judgment procedure may be required.

Numeric correctness and lawful underlying entitlement are separate.

Example 15 — Traceable exempt wages after deposit

Facts

• $400.00 of a paycheck was protected from wage garnishment.
• It is deposited into a bank account.
• Thirty days later, a bank levy reaches the account.
• The funds remain traceable.

Montana’s 45-day tracing rule may preserve the exemption, using a reasonable selected tracing method.

This example does not decide:

• Other deposits.
• Commingling.
• Benefit exemptions.
• Bank duties.
• The bank-levy claim process.

Those issues remain for the bank-garnishment pass.

XIII. Source register

Fresh access date unless otherwise stated: October 26, 2026, Pacific / October 26, 2026, UTC. Exact individual fetch timestamps: Not exposed and not asserted.

XIV. Claim register

XV. Coverage and gap table

XVI. Researcher self-check

Freshly read

• Current Montana statutes governing:Judgment enforcement by writ.Writ content.Employer service.Third-party response.Continuing wage levy.Employer remittance.Multiple-levy priority.Debtor notice.Exemption claim and hearing.Earnings cap.Traceable exempt wages.Justice/City and Small Claims execution.Registered levying officers.Supplemental execution proceedings.Employment retaliation.
• Current federal CCPA provisions defining earnings and disposable earnings, limiting garnishment, regulating discharge, and preserving more protective state law.
• Current eCFR Part 870 provisions relevant to ordinary calculations, pay-period conversions, aggregation, and the nonaffirmative-defense character of the cap.
• Current Department of Labor Fact Sheet #30 and official garnishment guidance.
• The material Montana Supreme Court opinions and Sniadach identified in the source register.
• The current Montana Judicial Branch forms landing pages and direct form routes.

Arithmetic checks

• Weekly $200.00: min(50.00, 0.00) = 0.00.
• Weekly $250.00: min(62.50, 32.50) = 32.50.
• Weekly $400.00: min(100.00, 182.50) = 100.00.
• Biweekly $500.00: min(125.00, 65.00) = 65.00.
• Semimonthly $700.00: min(175.00, 228.75) = 175.00.
• Monthly $1,000.00: min(250.00, 57.50) = 57.50.
• Required-deduction example: $1,000.00 − $200.00 = $800.00 disposable; maximum $200.00.
• Multiple-creditor example: $600.00 × 25% = $150.00; excess branch $382.50; aggregate cap $150.00.

Access-limited or unresolved sources

• Official Montana Word forms could not be parsed through the public browsing route. Their titles and URLs were verified, but internal content and revision dates were not read.
• Several Montana opinions were read from complete public reproductions of the actual opinions rather than an official Judicial Branch-hosted PDF.
• No paid citator or exhaustive district-court docket review was performed.
• No controlling Montana appellate case interpreting the remedy under MCA §39-2-302 was located in the bounded search.
• No current statewide ordinary employer-answer/interrogatory form or employer processing fee was located.
• Search silence is not treated as proof that no local, sector, payroll, or later authority exists.

Not read or resolved

• Any actual:Judgment.Writ.Employer.Payroll.Pay stub.Service return.Levy response.Exemption notice.Exemption request.Court order.Payment ledger.Satisfaction.Bankruptcy filing.Priority order.
• Full bank-account garnishment, benefits tracing, judgment lifecycle, arbitration, standing, underlying balance, exemptions, lien, foreclosure, tax, support, education, secured-debt, local, tribal, or foreign-country analysis.
• PASS-18 or any other unreviewed report as an accepted premise.

Exact individual source-fetch timestamps were not exposed and are not invented. No writ request, filing, employer notice, exemption claim, payroll instruction, provider lookup, court or account search, contact, record request, purchase, account change, private-data access, browser control, other-chat access, local write, collection approval, legal advice for a named person, independent-review conclusion, component acceptance, Montana acceptance, parent-dossier acceptance, A066 acceptance, operational approval, or publication-readiness determination occurred.

REPORT PARTIAL — the focused Montana ordinary unsecured consumer-debt wage-garnishment, earnings-cap, exemption-procedure, employer-duty, multiple-writ, and anti-retaliation component is completed to the stated statutory, factual, source, and currentness limits.

END S_MT PASS-21.