Which place’s debt rules apply—and who can help?

S_NE PASS-19 — Nebraska ordinary consumer-debt wage garnishment and earnings exemptions

Actual fresh research date: October 26, 2026, Pacific / October 26, 2026 UTC Mode/model: Regular Chat; GPT-5.6 Sol Pro Review status: Same-project continuation for later coordinator review; not independent review.

This pass is limited to Nebraska postjudgment wage garnishment for ordinary unsecured consumer money judgments. It covers the creditor’s application, service, employer interrogatories, debtor notice and hearing, calculation of disposable earnings, the Nebraska head-of-family limitation, continuing liens, priority, employer liability, and the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act overlay.

PASS-18 and the other saved PASS-08 through PASS-17 reports remain unreviewed or awaiting review. No new conclusion from those reports is treated as an accepted premise here. The narrow prerequisite that an enforceable court judgment must exist was freshly verified from Nebraska’s current garnishment statutes.

This pass does not resolve bank-account garnishment, benefits tracing, execution against other property, exemptions outside earnings, child support, taxes, federal agency garnishment, federal student loans, bankruptcy, secured debt, underlying judgment validity, judgment interest, judgment dormancy, medical or governmental debt, local or tribal law, or foreign-country procedure.

Executive findings

Nebraska ordinary wage garnishment is a postjudgment, court-supervised statutory process. A creditor cannot begin withholding merely because a debt exists, an account is in default, a collector demands payment, a debt-settlement program fails, or a lawsuit has been filed. The creditor must have a judgment entered by a court of record, file a sworn garnishment affidavit in the court where that judgment was entered, identify the amount claimed due, and obtain a summons and interrogatories directed to the employer. Nebraska expressly prohibits prejudgment garnishment of wages. Nebraska Legislature+1

The employer must answer within ten days after service. Until the court enters a further order, the employer pays the exempt portion to the employee and retains only the potentially nonexempt portion. A continuing wage lien is not automatic: the employer’s answer must show employment or earnings due at service or within the next 60 days, there must be no successful written objection, the creditor must apply for the lien, and the court must enter an order. Nebraska Legislature+1

For an ordinary consumer judgment, the maximum garnishable amount is not automatically 25%:

Plain text

Non-head of family:
    lesser of
    • 25% of disposable earnings, or
    • disposable earnings above the applicable minimum-wage floor

Head of family:
    lesser of
    • 15% of disposable earnings, or
    • disposable earnings above the applicable minimum-wage floor

Nebraska defines “head of a family” as a person who actually supports and maintains one or more closely related dependents by blood, marriage, adoption, or guardianship, with family control and support based on a moral or legal obligation. The statute says the exemption must be granted without further proceedings. A hearing is nevertheless available when the creditor or employer has used the wrong classification or amount; the hearing corrects the calculation rather than creating the exemption. Nebraska Legislature+1

Nebraska currently uses the federal minimum wage in the floor calculation—not Nebraska’s state minimum wage. At the current federal rate of $7.25, no ordinary weekly garnishment is permitted when disposable earnings are $217.50 or less. Nebraska’s 2026 LB 871 would have altered exemption calculations, but it was indefinitely postponed on April 17, 2026 and is not operative law. Nebraska Legislature+2

A Nebraska continuing lien lasts 90 days from service of the writ and may be extended once for a second 90-day period if the creditor files the notice of extension during the 15 days immediately before the first period expires. It also terminates sooner if the judgment is satisfied, vacated, or expires; the employee leaves for more than 60 days; the creditor releases it; a court or bankruptcy stay applies; the employee has no nonexempt earnings for at least 60 days; or the court quashes it. Nebraska Legislature+1

Only one ordinary continuing lien against earnings may be in effect at a time. Nebraska priority ordinarily follows time of service, but support assignments and support garnishments are superior to ordinary consumer-debt garnishments. Federal law separately limits the aggregate amount withheld regardless of how many orders an employer receives. Nebraska Legislature+1

A. Actor and route matrix

Nebraska’s wage definition is compensation paid or payable by an employer to an employee for personal services. The federal CCPA is worded more broadly as compensation for personal services of an individual, but application to a particular independent-contractor, gig, commission-only, or mixed business-payment arrangement remains fact-specific. A nonemployee receivable may instead present a nonwage garnishment issue, which is outside this pass. Nebraska Legislature+1

B. Nebraska postjudgment wage-garnishment workflow

B1. Judgment prerequisite

Nebraska permits garnishment in aid of execution only when a judgment has been entered by a court of record. The creditor files in the clerk’s office of the court that entered the judgment. A settlement agreement followed by dismissal is not itself the kind of court judgment supporting garnishment; nor is an unconfirmed private arbitration award or an enrolled debt-relief balance. Nebraska separately states that no prejudgment garnishment order may issue against wages due from an employer. Nebraska Legislature+2

B2. Creditor affidavit and summons

The creditor, agent, or attorney files an affidavit stating:

• the judgment;
• the amount presently due;
• interest;
• costs;
• the named employer or other garnishee; and
• the creditor’s good-faith belief that the garnishee owes earnings or holds property belonging to the debtor.

The clerk then issues the garnishment summons with the stated amount and written interrogatories. The summons is returnable within ten days after issuance and requires the employer to answer within ten days after service. Nebraska Legislature+1

The current county-court affidavit, CC 3:6, also asks the creditor to classify the debtor as head or non-head of a family for ordinary debt. That sworn classification is not conclusive; the debtor may challenge it. Nebraska Judicial Branch+1

B3. Service on employer

The garnishment materials are served on the garnishee in the manner used for a civil summons. For a corporate employer, current §25-1056 permits service under the corporate-service statute or by a mutually agreed method. If service is not on the registered agent, the creditor generally must send a copy to the registered-agent location unless the employer requested otherwise or has no Nebraska registered agent. The 2025 LB 150 amendments govern this corporate-service branch. Nebraska Legislature+1

B4. Separate notice to employee

The summons, interrogatories, debtor notice, and hearing-request form are served on the employer. Separately, within seven business days after the court issues the garnishment, the creditor must send the debtor by certified mail at the last-known address:

• a copy of the summons and order;
• the notice to judgment debtor; and
• the hearing-request form.

The creditor must certify the mailing date to the court. Nebraska Legislature

The debtor’s hearing deadline runs from receipt of the notice—not merely issuance or mailing—under the statutory wording. Without evidence of actual receipt, an exact individual deadline cannot be calculated here.

B5. Employer answer and interim retention

The employer must truthfully answer under oath:

• whether the debtor is employed;
• whether earnings were owed at service or will become due during the next 60 days;
• the applicable pay period;
• gross earnings;
• legally required deductions;
• disposable earnings;
• other garnishments or wage assignments;
• any existing continuing lien and its expiration; and
• the amount otherwise subject to the writ.

During this interim stage, the employer pays the employee all exempt disposable earnings and retains the potentially nonexempt amount until further court order. Nebraska Legislature+2

B6. Debtor hearing

The notice must explain that the debtor may request a hearing if:

• the funds or earnings are exempt; or
• the amount sought is not owed on the judgment.

The request must be filed within three business days after receipt of the notice, and the court must grant a hearing within ten days after the request. The proceeding can address such matters as incorrect head-of-family status, an erroneous disposable-earnings computation, credited payments, satisfaction, or an amount exceeding the judgment. It is not a second trial on the underlying debt. Nebraska Legislature+2

The current statute does not expressly assign a universal formal burden of proof for every head-of-family hearing. The current defendant packet and hearing form expect the debtor to identify the claimed exemption and present evidence. Older Nebraska annotations allocated certain exemption facts to the garnishee. The exact burden and acceptable evidence in a contested modern case remain fact- and court-specific. Nebraska Legislature+1

B7. Court order transferring earnings and creating continuing lien

A continuing lien may be ordered only if:

1. the employer’s answer shows the debtor was an employee, earnings were owed at service, or earnings will be owed within 60 days;
2. no written objection succeeds;
3. the creditor applies for transfer and a continuing lien; and
4. the court enters the order.

The initial earnings withheld after service remain held until that order. After the order, the employer sends the nonexempt earnings through the issuing court—each pay period or monthly—and pays the exempt portion to the employee each pay period. Nebraska Legislature+2

B8. Duration, extension, and termination

A second 90-day period is the only extension authorized by the continuing-lien subsection. Continued collection after that period is not automatic; a later proceeding would require a new valid statutory process and a still-enforceable judgment. Nebraska Legislature+1

The current plaintiff packet instructs a creditor to file both a release of garnishee and a satisfaction of judgment once the judgment, allowed costs, and accrued interest are paid. That packet is operational guidance, while the statute itself makes the lien invalid upon satisfaction. Nebraska Judicial Branch+1

C. Earnings, disposable earnings, and the maximum formula

C1. Definitions

C2. Formula

Let:

Plain text

D = disposable earnings for the pay period
F = protected minimum-wage floor for that pay period

For a debtor who is not head of a family:

Plain text

Maximum ordinary withholding
    = max(0, lesser of:
        25% × D
        D − F)

For a debtor who is head of a family:

Plain text

Maximum ordinary withholding
    = max(0, lesser of:
        15% × D
        D − F)

The 15% Nebraska branch is more protective than the federal 25% percentage ceiling and remains effective because federal law preserves state laws allowing less garnishment. The federal minimum-wage floor still applies. Nebraska Legislature+1

C3. Current pay-period floors

At the current $7.25 federal minimum wage:

The federal regulation treats a month as 4⅓ workweeks and transforms the weekly formula for longer pay periods. The rate in effect when earnings are paid or payable, not when the writ was issued, controls. eCFR+1

For a head of family, the 15% percentage becomes the limiting branch sooner, but the minimum-wage floor still protects all earnings below the applicable floor and may limit withholding in the transition range.

C4. Required versus voluntary deductions

Generally subtracted before computing disposable earnings

• federal income tax;
• state and local income tax;
• Social Security;
• Medicare;
• state unemployment tax;
• a retirement contribution required by law.

Generally not subtracted

• voluntary health or life insurance;
• union dues;
• charitable donations;
• voluntary retirement contributions;
• savings-bond purchases;
• payroll advances;
• employee merchandise purchases;
• voluntary wage assignments.

The DOL descriptions are federal interpretive guidance consistent with Nebraska’s “required by law” text. A deduction’s label is not conclusive; whether it is legally mandatory depends on the actual law and payroll arrangement. Department of Labor+1

C5. Bonuses, commissions, tips, and retirement

Nebraska’s statute expressly includes commissions, bonuses, and periodic pension or retirement payments. Federal guidance also treats lump sums as earnings when paid for personal services, while excluding amounts unrelated to personal services. Nebraska Legislature+1

For tipped employees, federal guidance treats employer-paid cash wages and an employer’s lawful tip credit as earnings, but not direct tips exceeding that amount. Nebraska’s statute does not separately explain the treatment of direct tips, so the precise Nebraska result remains held. Department of Labor

Although periodic pension payments fall within the earnings definition, undistributed retirement-plan assets may be protected by separate federal anti-alienation rules. Florence Lake confirms that a plan administrator still must answer garnishment interrogatories even when the asset may ultimately be exempt. Full retirement-benefit garnishment remains outside this pass. Nebraska Legislature+1

D. Priority and multiple withholding orders

D1. Nebraska priority

Nebraska ranks garnishments and liens by time of service, subject to statutory preferences. Support wage assignments and support garnishments are superior to ordinary consumer-debt garnishments. Only one ordinary continuing wage lien can be in effect at one time. The employer’s answer must disclose an existing lien, its termination date, and the case from which it arose. Nebraska Legislature

D2. Federal aggregate ceiling

The federal CCPA does not establish priority among orders; state and other federal law do. It does, however, cap aggregate withholding. An employer cannot multiply the available 25% merely because two or more creditors served orders. Department of Labor+1

A prior support order can consume all room for an ordinary debt garnishment. Federal regulations expressly provide that when at least 25% of disposable earnings is already withheld for support, no additional ordinary CCPA-limited garnishment is allowed. eCFR

D3. Operational sequence

Plain text

1. Determine gross earnings.
2. Subtract only legally required deductions.
3. Determine Nebraska head-of-family status.
4. Calculate the applicable ordinary aggregate ceiling.
5. Identify superior support, tax, bankruptcy, or federal orders.
6. Apply Nebraska service priority.
7. Subtract prior withholding from the applicable aggregate room.
8. Withhold no more than the remaining lawful amount.

A later ordinary creditor does not obtain a simultaneous second continuing lien merely because the first creditor is withholding less than the mathematical ceiling. Nebraska permits only one continuing lien against earnings at a time. Nebraska Legislature

E. Debtor hearing, exemption, and contest procedure

E1. Automatic protection versus hearing remedy

Section 25-1558 says a court may not enforce a process that exceeds the earnings limits and that the exemptions must be granted without further proceedings. The 15% head-of-family ceiling is therefore substantive protection, not a discretionary concession obtained only after a hearing. Nebraska Legislature

The hearing mechanism exists because the creditor’s affidavit, employer’s answer, or payroll calculation can be wrong. The current forms specifically permit a debtor to assert:

• the amount is not owed on the judgment;
• head-of-family status was omitted or misclassified; or
• funds or earnings are exempt. Nebraska Judicial Branch+1

E2. Timing matrix

Nebraska generally excludes the triggering day and extends an endpoint falling on Saturday, Sunday, or a court holiday to the next open court day unless a more specific rule controls. Because the debtor’s three-business-day period depends on actual receipt, a mailing date alone is insufficient to calculate the endpoint. Nebraska Legislature+1

E3. Scope of hearing

The hearing does not provide a new trial on:

• whether the original creditor should have won;
• contract formation;
• the merits of defenses that should have been asserted before judgment;
• damages already fixed by the judgment; or
• whether the judgment should be vacated.

It can address whether the garnishment seeks more than remains due, whether payments were omitted, whether earnings are exempt, or whether the head-of-family or payroll calculation is wrong. Separate judgment-vacatur procedures remain outside this pass. Nebraska Judicial Branch+1

E4. Evidence

Potentially relevant evidence includes:

• pay stubs;
• payroll deduction details;
• dependent relationships;
• proof of actual support and maintenance;
• guardianship or adoption records where relevant;
• payment receipts;
• satisfaction or release documents;
• the judgment and garnishment affidavit; and
• employer interrogatory answers.

The current defendant packet instructs the debtor to bring organized copies with dates and page numbers, but it does not prescribe an exclusive evidentiary list or shift every burden. Nebraska Judicial Branch

F. Employer duties, liability, and discharge protection

F1. Employer duties

The employer must:

• answer all proper interrogatories truthfully and under oath;
• disclose earnings due at service and earnings expected within 60 days;
• identify pay period and deductions;
• disclose prior garnishments and liens;
• pay exempt earnings to the employee;
• retain potentially nonexempt earnings until the court acts;
• after a continuing-lien order, remit nonexempt earnings each pay period or monthly;
• comply with the statutory cap and priorities; and
• stop when the lien becomes invalid or is released. Nebraska Legislature+1

The filing fee for the employer’s answer may be taxed as a court cost. No statute reviewed here authorizes the employer to deduct an invented payroll “processing fee” from the employee’s protected wages. Nebraska Legislature

F2. Failure to answer

Failure to answer creates a rebuttable presumption that the employer owes the debtor the full amount of the creditor’s claim. A court may enter judgment against the employer only after notice in the time and manner directed by the court and after determining what amount is actually due. The presumption is not an automatic, irrevocable default judgment. Nebraska Legislature

F3. Creditor challenge to employer answer

If the creditor finds the answer unsatisfactory or alleges noncompliance, the creditor must file an application to determine the employer’s liability within 20 days. The employer’s answer and creditor’s application become the pleadings. If no timely application is filed, the employer is released and discharged from that contested garnishment liability. Nebraska Legislature+1

At the resulting civil trial, the creditor bears the burden of showing that, at the time of service, the employer owed the debtor earnings or held property that the debtor could legally recover from the employer. The creditor’s rights rise no higher than the debtor’s rights against the garnishee. Nebraska Legislature+1

F4. Corporate employer notice

For a corporate employer, a later application to determine garnishee liability must be served through the registered-agent route or the statutory alternative. The 2025 amendments prevent corporate-employer liability in a wage case unless the specified service and registered-agent-copy conditions are met. Nebraska Legislature

F5. Anti-discharge protection

Both Nebraska and federal law prohibit an employer from discharging an employee because earnings were garnished for one indebtedness. Multiple levies or proceedings seeking the same debt remain one indebtedness under DOL guidance. The statutory wording does not provide the same protection after garnishments for a second distinct debt, though other laws or employment protections could apply. Nebraska Legislature+2

The federal Wage and Hour Division enforces Title III. A willful federal violation can carry an authorized maximum fine of $1,000, imprisonment for up to one year, or both. DOL guidance says enforcement may include reinstatement, back wages, and restoration of improperly garnished amounts. These are enforcement possibilities, not automatic awards upon an allegation. U.S. Code+2

Nebraska §25-1558 contains the state discharge prohibition but does not itself state a comprehensive private damages formula or enforcement procedure. Whether another Nebraska remedy is available remains outside this focused pass.

G. Material Nebraska decisions

H. Official forms and public instructions

I. Master actor-stage-consequence matrix

J. Bounded worked examples

All examples are hypothetical. They calculate only a maximum withholding under the stated assumptions. They do not establish a valid judgment, lawful interest, creditor standing, priority, or permission to garnish.

For cents, the examples round only the final calculated amount to the nearest cent. No separate Nebraska payroll-rounding rule was located.

Example 1 — low weekly disposable earnings

Assumptions

• Ordinary consumer judgment.
• Weekly disposable earnings: $200.00.
• No superior order.
• Current federal minimum wage: $7.25.

Plain text

Weekly floor:
30 × $7.25 = $217.50

Amount above floor:
$200.00 − $217.50 = negative → $0.00

25% branch:
$200.00 × 25% = $50.00

Maximum:
lesser of $0.00 and $50.00 = $0.00

Result: no ordinary wage garnishment, whether or not the debtor is head of a family.

Example 2 — weekly transition range

Assumptions

• Disposable earnings: $240.00 weekly.

Plain text

Amount above floor:
$240.00 − $217.50 = $22.50

Non-head percentage:
$240.00 × 25% = $60.00

Head-of-family percentage:
$240.00 × 15% = $36.00

Plain text

Non-head maximum = lesser of $60.00 and $22.50 = $22.50
Head maximum     = lesser of $36.00 and $22.50 = $22.50

At this income level, the minimum-wage floor—not the percentage—controls both branches.

Example 3 — weekly head-of-family difference

Assumptions

• Disposable earnings: $400.00 weekly.

Plain text

Amount above floor:
$400.00 − $217.50 = $182.50

Non-head:
$400.00 × 25% = $100.00
Maximum = lesser of $100.00 and $182.50 = $100.00

Head of family:
$400.00 × 15% = $60.00
Maximum = lesser of $60.00 and $182.50 = $60.00

The 15% Nebraska protection reduces the hypothetical ordinary withholding by $40.00.

Example 4 — biweekly earnings

Assumptions

• Biweekly disposable earnings: $900.00.
• Protected floor: $435.00.

Plain text

Amount above floor:
$900.00 − $435.00 = $465.00

Non-head:
$900.00 × 25% = $225.00
Maximum = $225.00

Head of family:
$900.00 × 15% = $135.00
Maximum = $135.00

Example 5 — required versus voluntary deductions

Hypothetical semimonthly payroll

Plain text

Gross earnings                           $1,600.00
Federal/state/FICA deductions required     -350.00
Voluntary health insurance                 -100.00
Voluntary retirement contribution          -100.00

Only the $350 required deductions are subtracted for this calculation:

Plain text

Disposable earnings:
$1,600.00 − $350.00 = $1,250.00

The voluntary $200 remains part of disposable earnings.

Plain text

Semimonthly floor                        $471.25
Amount above floor:
$1,250.00 − $471.25 = $778.75

Non-head:
$1,250.00 × 25% = $312.50
Maximum = $312.50

Head of family:
$1,250.00 × 15% = $187.50
Maximum = $187.50

This does not determine whether a particular retirement deduction is legally required; that payroll fact must be verified.

Example 6 — monthly earnings near the protected floor

Assumptions

• Monthly disposable earnings: $1,000.00.
• Monthly floor: $942.50.

Plain text

Amount above floor:
$1,000.00 − $942.50 = $57.50

25% branch:
$1,000.00 × 25% = $250.00

15% branch:
$1,000.00 × 15% = $150.00

Both classifications yield:

Plain text

Maximum = $57.50

because the floor is more protective than either percentage.

Example 7 — superior support withholding leaves no ordinary room

Assumptions

• Weekly disposable earnings: $500.00.
• Existing support withholding: $200.00.
• Debtor is not head of family for the ordinary-debt branch.

Plain text

Ordinary aggregate ceiling:
$500.00 × 25% = $125.00

Existing superior support withholding:
$200.00

Remaining ordinary CCPA room:
$125.00 − $200.00 = negative → $0.00

Result: no additional ordinary consumer-debt withholding for that pay period. The support order may itself lawfully exceed the ordinary 25% ceiling under separate support rules.

Example 8 — multiple ordinary creditors

Assumptions

• Weekly disposable earnings: $600.00.
• Debtor is not head of family.
• First ordinary continuing lien is active.
• Second ordinary creditor later serves the employer.

Plain text

Aggregate ordinary ceiling:
$600.00 × 25% = $150.00

First lien:
up to $150.00, subject to its judgment balance

Second continuing lien:
cannot operate concurrently under Nebraska's one-lien rule

The second creditor does not obtain another $150.00 simply because it also has a judgment. Its order and priority require the statutory process and the end of the prior continuing lien.

Example 9 — worker classification unknown

Facts

• A person receives a $1,200 invoice payment for project work.
• The payer calls the person an independent contractor.
• The payment includes labor plus materials and reimbursement.
• No payroll records establish an employer-employee relationship.

Result

Plain text

Nebraska §25-1558 employee earnings       not established
Federal personal-service earnings amount  not separable
Ordinary wage formula                      held

The creditor cannot safely apply a 15% or 25% wage formula without resolving classification and payment components. Nonwage garnishment of an account receivable is a separate component.

Example 10 — hearing deadline with unknown receipt

Define:

Plain text

I = court issuance date
M = creditor's certified-mail date
R = debtor's actual receipt date
H = debtor's filing date

Required sequence:

Plain text

M must occur within 7 business days after I
H must occur within 3 business days after R
Court must grant hearing within 10 days after H

If the record shows mailing but not actual receipt, R is unknown and the exact three-business-day endpoint cannot be calculated. The creditor’s mailing date cannot simply replace the statutory receipt trigger.

Example 11 — continuing lien expires or ends early

Assumptions

• Writ served on event date S.
• Court later enters continuing-lien order.
• No extension has yet been filed.

Plain text

Initial statutory endpoint:
S + 90 days

Extension filing window:
the 15 days immediately before that endpoint

Maximum extended duration:
one second 90-day period

Alternative events:

Plain text

Judgment satisfied on day 40       → lien invalid on satisfaction
Employee leaves for >60 days       → lien invalid
No nonexempt earnings for 60 days  → lien invalid
Court issues stay                  → lien invalid while statutory condition applies

A payroll system should not continue to withhold merely because its original setup date extends beyond a statutory termination event.

Example 12 — amount due on judgment is disputed

Facts

• Garnishment affidavit states $8,000 remains due.
• Debtor has proof of a $1,500 postjudgment payment not reflected in the affidavit.
• Interest and taxable costs are not supplied.

Plain text

Affidavit balance                   $8,000
Documented omitted payment          -1,500
Provisional arithmetic              $6,500

The $6,500 arithmetic does not establish the lawful remaining balance because interest, costs, allocation, reversals, and satisfaction terms are unknown. The hearing can address the amount presently owing; it does not retry liability fixed by the judgment.

Example 13 — employment discharge protection

Same indebtedness

An employer receives three successive garnishment writs over time, all collecting the same judgment.

Plain text

Number of writs                 3
Underlying indebtedness         1
Federal/Nebraska discharge ban  potentially applies

Different indebtedness

A later writ concerns a completely separate judgment owed to another creditor.

The one-indebtedness language no longer supplies the same statutory protection. That does not affirmatively authorize discharge under every other employment law or contract.

K. Source register

L. Claim register

M. Granular coverage and remaining gaps

N. Researcher self-check

Freshly read

• Current complete or materially complete Nebraska provisions:§§25-1010;25-1011;25-1026 through 25-1031.01;25-1056;25-1558; and25-2221.
• Current federal:15 U.S.C. §§1672 through 1677;29 C.F.R. Part 870, particularly §§870.1, 870.10, 870.11, and 870.57.
• Current public Nebraska court packets and the principal garnishment forms listed above.
• Relevant pages and images from:Bocanegra v. Gonzalez;Florence Lake Investments v. Berg;Huntington v. Pedersen; andFriedman v. Friedman.
• DOL Fact Sheet #30 and the DOL Employment Law Guide, with their nonbinding guidance status preserved.
• LB 871’s current “indefinitely postponed” status.

Arithmetic self-check

Plain text

Weekly floor:
30 × $7.25 = $217.50

Biweekly floor:
2 × $217.50 = $435.00

Semimonthly floor:
(13 ÷ 6) × $217.50 = $471.25

Monthly floor:
(13 ÷ 3) × $217.50 = $942.50

Worked amounts:

Plain text

$240 − $217.50 = $22.50
$400 × 25% = $100.00
$400 × 15% = $60.00
$900 × 25% = $225.00
$900 × 15% = $135.00
$1,600 − $350 = $1,250
$1,250 × 25% = $312.50
$1,250 × 15% = $187.50
$1,000 − $942.50 = $57.50

The calculations establish only arithmetic under stated assumptions. They do not establish a valid judgment, legal priority, worker status, head-of-family status, or a lawful withholding order.

Bounded unresolved searches

No controlling current Nebraska appellate decision was located that conclusively resolves:

• the modern formal burden of proof at a contested head-of-family hearing;
• the Nebraska treatment of direct tips;
• wage-protection treatment of every independent-contractor or gig payment;
• one comprehensive Nebraska private remedy for employer discharge under §25-1558;
• automatic tolling or stay from a debtor’s administrative complaint;
• or a universal procedure for a new ordinary writ after the second 90-day continuing-lien period.

These are bounded gaps, not claims that no unpublished, local, or later authority exists.

Not performed

• No actual debtor, employer, creditor, collector, judgment, payroll record, pay stub, garnishment order, service return, docket, account, lien, payment, or private contract was accessed.
• No filing, court contact, employer contact, provider lookup, records request, account action, private-data search, or form submission.
• No full:bank-account garnishment;benefits exemption or tracing;execution against other assets;child-support withholding;tax levy;federal agency or student-loan garnishment;bankruptcy;judgment-interest or dormancy;secured, medical, governmental, local, tribal, or foreign-country dossier.
• No Deep Research, Work, Codex generation, API, purchase, account change, website action, publication, browser control, other Chat, CAPTCHA bypass, security workaround, or local-file save.

Focused disposition: Nebraska ordinary wage garnishment requires a valid court judgment, creditor affidavit, employer service and answer, debtor notice, a chance for rapid hearing, and a court order before continuing transfer. The amount is the lower of the minimum-wage-floor calculation and the applicable percentage—25% ordinarily or 15% for a qualifying head of family. Exempt earnings must be paid to the employee, only one ordinary continuing lien may operate at once, and the lien ordinarily lasts 90 days with one 90-day extension. Employer noncompliance can create liability, but only through the statutory notice and adjudication process; a judgment or missed payroll response does not authorize informal or unlimited withholding.

END S_NE PASS-19.