Wage garnishment: limits and what is realistically recoverable
Wage garnishment is one of the most common ways to try to recover a debt through enforcement proceedings. For the creditor, it can represent a stable means of collection, especially when the debtor has no known assets but maintains regular income. For the debtor, it is a sensitive measure because it directly affects their available monthly income. Despite its frequency, wage garnishment has important legal limits. In Portugal, it is not possible to freely withdraw all of a worker's earnings to pay a debt. The law protects a portion of the income, seeking to balance two interests: the creditor's right to recover what is owed and the debtor's right to maintain minimum living conditions. In this article, we explain how wage garnishment works, what limits apply, how much can be garnished, and what is realistically recoverable in an enforcement action.