2021 Georgia Code
Title 18 - Debtor and Creditor
Chapter 4 - Garnishment Proceedings
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 18-4-14. Recovery of Reasonable Expenses; Recovery of Actual Expenses; Refunds

1. The garnishee shall be entitled to the garnishee's actual reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, in preparing and filing a garnishee's answer. The amount of expenses incurred shall be taxed in the bill of costs and shall be paid by the party upon whom the cost is cast, as costs are cast in other cases. The garnishee may deduct $50.00 or 10 percent of the amount paid into court, whichever is greater, not to exceed $100.00, as reasonable attorney's fees or expenses.
2. If the garnishee can show that the garnishee's actual attorney's fees or expenses exceed the amount provided for in subsection (a) of this Code section, the garnishee shall petition the court for a hearing at the time of filing the garnishee's answer without deducting from the amount paid into court. Upon hearing from the parties, the court may enter an order for payment of actual attorney's fees or expenses proven by the garnishee to have been incurred reasonably in preparing and filing the garnishee's answer.
3. In the event the garnishee makes the deduction permitted in subsection (a) of this Code section but the costs are later cast upon the garnishee, the garnishee shall forthwith refund to the defendant the funds deducted; if the costs are later cast against the plaintiff, the court shall enter judgment in favor of the defendant and against the plaintiff for the amount of the deductions made by the garnishee.
4. Nothing in this Code section shall limit the reimbursement of costs incurred by a financial institution as provided in Code Section 7-1-237, nor interfere with, exclude, or supplant any contractual arrangement for a garnishee to reimburse itself for costs or fees of legal processing due to a garnishment.

(Code 1981, §18-4-14, enacted by Ga. L. 2016, p. 8, § 1/SB 255; Ga. L. 2020,p. 691, § 11/SB 443.)

The 2020 amendment, effective January 1, 2021, added ", nor interfere with, exclude, or supplant any contractual arrangement for a garnishee to reimburse itself for costs or fees of legal processing due to a garnishment" at the end of subsection (d).

- For article discussing an advisory opinion issued by the Standing Committee on the Unlicensed Practice of Law on the issue of execution and filing of an answer in the garnishment action by a nonattorney employee of the garnishee, see 16 (No. 1) Ga. St. B.J. 102 (2010).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Editor's notes.

- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions decided under former O.C.G.A. § 18-4-97 are included in the annotations for this Code section.

- Garnishee's recovery of attorney's fees or expenses was limited to $50 after the garnishee failed to employ procedure specified in O.C.G.A. § 18-4-97; garnishee's award in excess of $50 was, therefore, erroneous. Travelers Ins. Co. v. Trans State, Inc., 172 Ga. App. 763, 324 S.E.2d 585 (1984) (decided under former O.C.G.A. § 18-4-97).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S.

- 38 C.J.S., Garnishment, § 344 et seq.