Your wages or benefites have been garnished

Loonbeslag (Your wages or benefites have been garnished)

The Court Bailiff has just notified you that your wages or benefits have been garnished. In
formal terms, this means that the Court Bailiff has served a writ of execution against you
on behalf of a third party.

Because of this, your employer, or the Benefits Office, is required to retain a proportion of
your income, rather than pay it out to you. This proportion of your income will be paid
directly to the Court Bailiff.

If you live permanently in the Netherlands, then not all of your income is included in the
garnishment. A proportion of your income will be paid to you; this is called the exempt
amount. The Court Bailiff will calculate this exempt amount for you and will require
information from you about your income and expenses. It is important that you provide
these figures as soon as possible to your Court Bailiff. Only then can he or she make an
accurate calculation of the amount of the exemption which applies to you.

The information that you provide must include the amount of rent you pay and the costs of
your premium health care insurance, but you should also report any housing and health
care benefits that you receive.
If you or your partner have any other income, apart from the income that has been
garnished, you must report this to the Court Bailiff (this includes people who are not
married or who are not partners in a community of property). It is most important that the
income of your partner is reported if this is requested. If you do not furnish this
information, the Court Bailiff may decide that the amount of your exemption should be
halved, which means that a larger proportion of your income will be deducted and will not
be paid to you.

If your family situation or your income details change, this may influence the amount of
the exemption. Always report any changes to the Court Bailiff. If necessary, he or she will
alter the amount of your exemption.

Please contact the Court Bailiff if you require any information about your rights and
obligations.

If you have financial problems that you can no longer manage yourself, it is sensible to
seek support. Your local district council can advise you about which agency can offer
help.

The Court Bailiff