TCA § 26-2-215 — Employer to remit withheld moneys to court

The employer garnishee shall remit to the court all moneys withheld as provided under § 26-2-214 not less than one (1) time each calendar thirty (30) days. Acts 1978, ch. 915, § 34; T.C.A., § 26-244. Textbooks. Tennessee Jurisprudence, 3 Tenn. Juris., Attachment and Garnishment, § 139; 4 Tenn. Juris., Bankruptcy, § 8. NOTES TO DECISIONS 1. Debtor's Interest. 2. Construction with Other Sections. 1. Debtor's Interest. This section does not permit garnishee to pay garnished wages directly to creditor; the debtor retains an interest in his wages until such interest is terminated by court's payment of garnished wages to creditor. In re Eggleston, 19 B.R. 280, 1982 Bankr. LEXIS 4473 (Bankr. M.D. Tenn. 1982). 2. Construction with Other Sections. Both T.C.A. §§ 26-2-209 and 29-7-114 authorize the imposition of a conditional judgment if the garnishee fails to answer; the appellate court, mindful of the trial court's explicit findings that the agents of the mother's employer acted in bad faith and persistently worked in concert with the mother to defeat the garnishments and that certain penalties or sanctions may have been called for, nevertheless held that under the plain language of the garnishment statutes at issue, a conditional judgment was not among the available options, (here $ 82,817 for child support due), where the employer admitted that the mother was employed during the pertinent period, provided information about the mother's salary, and asserted that the reason for its failure to answer the garnishment in a timely manner was due to simple negligence. Smith v. Smith, 165 S.W.3d 285, 2004 Tenn. App. LEXIS 105 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2004), appeal denied, — S.W.3d —, 2004 Tenn. LEXIS 761 (Tenn. Sept. 7, 2004).