Garnish refers to a court order in which the court directs the holder of funds like a bank or an employer to set a certain amount of money aside until the court decides how much money a debtor owes to his or her creditor. Garnishing funds acts as a warning to the holding party not to release funds and informs the court about the amount of money being held.
A typical example of garnishing wages is collecting late child support payments. This order often includes payment of the amount in the form of installments to the sheriff. The sheriff then pays the amount in full or installments to the party to whom the amount is owed.