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: Eligibility, Application Procedure, Effects on Enforcement, Collection and Costs (England and Wales)

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Practice notes

This Practice Note is intended for judgment creditors thinking about seeking an attachment of earnings order. It sets out what an attachment of earnings order is, when you can seek one, how to make the application, and what follows after it is lodged.

What is an attachment of earnings order?

To enforce a judgment debt, a creditor may apply for an attachment of earnings order (AEO). This directs the judgment debtor’s employer to send a specified portion of the debtor’s pay to a central collecting office for transfer to the judgment creditor. The statutory basis for AEOs is the Attachment of Earnings Act 1971 (AtEA 1971), and the procedural framework appears in CPR 89. Under AtEA 1971, s 6(1), an AEO is a direction to the judgment debtor’s employer to:

make periodical deductions from the debtor’s earnings at such times as the court requires; and
pay those amounts to the collecting officer of the court named in the order...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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