Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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North Dakota program

If a medical bill reaches court (wage protections)

Limits on how much a debt collector can take from wages through a North Dakota court.

What it is

Limits on how much a debt collector can take from wages through a North Dakota court.

A hospital bill and a court garnishment are different stages of a debt problem. North Dakota’s wage protections can limit a garnishment, while the underlying debt remains. Hospital financial assistance is a separate way to review what you owe.

Eligibility rules
  • These are general garnishment rules under NDCC chapter 32-09.1, with hospital liens addressed in chapter 35-18.
What you get
  • A limit on the wages a garnishment can take each week.
  • A $20 reduction in the weekly maximum for each dependent family member living with you.
What the help includes
  • The calculation uses disposable weekly earnings, a 25% ceiling and protection tied to 40 times the federal minimum hourly wage.
  • A court garnishment can take at most a quarter of your take-home pay, and less when you have dependents at home ($20 a week less for each). Give the employer the list of dependents within 10 days of the papers. A legal-aid lawyer can check the papers and any deadline.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask a legal adviser to review the notice, earnings calculation and resident dependents.
  2. Have the court papers and pay records ready. Hospital financial counseling can separately review help with the bill.

Legal-aid or consumer-debt lawyer; hospital financial counselor for bill assistance · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • A complete financial-assistance application at Sanford pauses its collection activity until the decision; ask other hospitals for their rule in writing. A court deadline does not pause.
Good to know

A court deadline and a hospital assistance application are separate. Asking the hospital for help does not by itself resolve court papers.

Other details
  • North Dakota does not stop medical debt going on your credit report, so ask the hospital for financial assistance before a bill reaches collections.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“If a bill reaches collections or court, what wages and other money are protected? Could you help us find legal advice and compare hospital assistance before deciding how to respond?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand what the notice means and which deadlines need a separate response.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Check the maths and say how many dependants live with you.

Your social worker

The hospital financial counsellor can still take a financial assistance application.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
A court.
Ask the billing office
“Before this goes further, I want to apply for your financial assistance policy. If a garnishment is already running, I have dependants living with me and the weekly maximum should come down by $20 for each of them.”

How to apply

First step: Ask the hospital financial counsellor for a financial assistance application now, before a bill ever reaches collections.

  1. Ask the hospital for its financial assistance application before a bill reaches collections.
  2. The ordinary weekly cap uses the smaller of 25% of disposable earnings or earnings above 40 times the federal minimum wage, then the qualifying dependent reduction.
  3. Get legal help before agreeing to a payment plan you cannot keep.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Check the maths on the notice and get legal help if it looks wrong.

What to gather

  • The bills and any collection letters
  • Pay stubs
  • Who lives with you

How long: Applies for as long as a garnishment runs.

What a yes looks like

The garnishment is reduced to the statutory maximum.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Get legal help; these are court rules, not a plan decision.

Watch out

  • These are general debt rules. No North Dakota medical-debt law was found.
  • The hospital’s own financial assistance policy comes first, long before this.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

For ordinary weekly wages: the smaller of 25% of disposable earnings or earnings above 40 times the federal minimum wage, less $20 per qualifying resident dependent, never below zero.

  • $25/week — Maximum share of disposable weekly earnings that can be garnished
  • $40/week — Protected multiple of the federal minimum hourly wage
  • $20/week — Reduction in the weekly maximum for each resident dependent family member

Legal protection: A ceiling on weekly wage garnishment, lowered for each dependent in the home

What it costs the family: Nothing.

The eligibility facts, as published

Who
anyone whose wages are being garnished in North Dakota
Statute
NDCC ch. 32-09.1; ch. 35-18 for hospital liens

The trap: These are general debt rules, not medical ones. No North Dakota rule was found that cancels medical debt, limits medical interest, keeps it off a credit report, or gives a right to an itemised bill.

Where I read this

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