Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Attachment of earnings definition

What does Attachment of earnings mean? An attachment of earnings is a court-directed mechanism requiring an employer to deduct sums from a debtor’s wages or salary and pay them to the court or enforcing authority to clear a judgment debt, fine or maintenance. It is a statutory remedy across the UK and Ireland, though terminology and procedure differ. In England and Wales, an Attachment of Earnings Order (AEO) under the Attachment of Earnings Act 1971 is made by the county court (and by magistrates’ courts for fines); child maintenance is enforced separately by Child Maintenance Service Deduction from Earnings Orders (DEOs). In Scotland,...

Attachment of Earnings Orders in Family Proceedings: Eligibility, Procedure, Deduction Rates, Offences, Variation and Costs (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Family expert

Practice notes

An Attachment of earnings order (AEO)

An AEO is a mechanism for enforcing Maintenance obligations imposed by a court order made in the Family Court or the High Court, regardless of whether any arrears have accrued, by taking specified sums directly from the debtor’s wages. The order is addressed to the debtor’s employer, not the debtor. Once made, the employer must promptly remit prescribed amounts from the debtor’s pay to the court’s designated collecting officer, who then passes them on to the creditor. The Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2016, SI 2016/355 amended the Family Procedure Rules 2010, SI 2010/2955 (FPR 2010), and, among other things, created a new Part 39 provision governing applications for an attachment of earnings order to secure payments due under a maintenance order. These provisions took legal effect on 6 April 2016. Under FPR 2010, SI 2010/2955, Part 39 is to be applied to any proceedings begun, but not concluded, before 6 April 2016, just as it applies to proceedings started on or after that date...

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David Salter

David Salter has enjoyed a varied career in family law with over 45 years’ experience. He served as National Head of Family Law at Addleshaw Goddard and, subsequently, as Joint National Head of Family Law at Mills & Reeve, retiring in 2018.From 1997-1999, David was Chairman of Resolution, also acting as the first Chairman of Resolution’s Accreditation Committee. He subsequently became President of the International Academy of Family Lawyers from 2010 to 2012, having previously served as the Academy's European Chapter President.He has sat in various part-time judicial posts since 1985 sitting regularly as a deputy High Court judge and Recorder in the Family Court until March 2022. He now conducts private financial dispute resolution appointments.David was one of the original members of the Family Procedure Rules Committee which framed the 2010 Rules, serving a ten-year term from 2004 to 2014.He is a...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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