To start the process of wage deduction, you must fill out the forms which your county uses for wage deductions. Many circuit clerk's offices have forms for you to use. Use the forms for the county where your case is taking place. You can get the forms by going into the clerk's office or by going online to the circuit clerk's website. 

This is a list of the forms which the court uses in Cook County; the forms in your county may be slightly different:

• Wage Deduction Summons for the employer,
• Wage Deduction Notice for the debtor,
• Affidavit for Wage Deduction Order,
• Wage Deduction Order, and
• Certificate of Judgment Balance. 

To fill out these forms, you will need to select a return date. This is the date you will come to court for a hearing. This date must be more than 21 days from the date you send the Notice, but not more than 40 days. Check with the circuit clerk's office to figure out what days the court hears these types of cases.

Once you have filled out the forms, you have to send them to the debtor and the debtor's employer. You can mail the forms to the debtor at the debtor's last known address. 

In order to send them to the debtor's employer, you will need to serve the forms through the sheriff's office or by certified mail, return receipt requested. 

You should keep any record of service on the employer in case the judge asks for it at your hearing. In many counties, one of the forms that will go to the employer is called Interrogatories. These are questions to the employer so that the employer can report back to the court and to you whether the debtor is still employed, and how much the debtor earns.

On the return date, go to court with copies of all of the forms you filled out. Also bring with you the employer's answers to your questions and a Wage Deduction Order that you have prepared for the judge to sign. 

At the hearing, the judge will hear your side and also hear from the debtor if the debtor is there. If the judge agrees with the wage deduction, the judge will sign the order. Once you have the signed order, you will have to mail or fax it to the employer.

Once the employer gets the signed order, the employer will start to send you the wage deduction each pay period. This will last until the judgment, plus any interest, is paid in full. It is not the employer's job to keep track of this. You will help the employer keep track of how much is still owed by sending the certificate in Step 4.

You must send a Certificate of Judgment Balance to the employer every January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, and October 1st until the debt is paid off. The certificate tells the employer how much money is left to pay so that the employer knows when to stop garnishing the debtor's wages.