Section 35-12-7 - Garnishment; exemptions. - New Mexico Statutes

35-12-7. Garnishment; exemptions.

A.     Exempt from garnishment with respect to the enforcement of an order or decree for child support is fifty percent of the defendant's disposable earnings for any pay period. Exempt from garnishment in all other situations is the greater of the following portions of the defendant's disposable earnings:   

(1)     seventy-five percent of the defendant's disposable earnings for any pay period; or   

(2)     an amount each week equal to forty times the federal minimum hourly wage rate. The director of the financial institutions division [of the regulation and licensing department] shall provide a table giving equivalent exemptions for pay periods of other than one week.   

B.     As used in this section:   

(1)     "disposable earnings" means that part of a defendant's wage or salary remaining after deducting the amounts which are required by law to be withheld; and   

(2)     "federal minimum hourly wage rate" means the highest federal minimum hourly wage rate for an eight-hour day and a forty-hour week. However, it is immaterial whether the garnishee is exempt under federal law from paying the federal minimum hourly wage rate.   

C.     The maximum amount which may be taken from a spouse's disposable earnings under both the garnishment procedure and the wage deduction procedure for the enforcement of child support is fifty percent of the spouse's disposable earnings.