Attachable and Unattachable Earnings

A payee's earnings can be split into attachable an unattachable amounts.

The attachable amount of a payee's income is the part that may be garnished:

• Obligatory attachable amount.

  The obligatory attachable amount includes severance allowance, retirement pay over the taxable limit of 3049 euros, and profit-sharing allowances. These amounts are completely attachable and do not follow the usual garnishment calculation rules.

• Obligatory unattachable amount.

  The obligatory unattachable amount consists of reimbursements of professional expenses (not including creditors), family allowances paid by the employer (not including creditors), and the RMI (legal minimum subsistence wage), which the government sets annually.

  If there is not enough money to pay alimony from the attachable portion of the salary, it may be taken from the unattachable amount, provided the payee's salary doesn't fall below the RMI. Only alimony payments may be taken from this portion of the salary.

• Attachable amount.

  Always place a garnishment against the attachable amount of a payee's earnings. The system uses a bracket element to calculate the attachable amount.