Wage garnishment and assignment in Belgium: what can be seized

The rule in brief

• Only part of a net income can be seized (saisie / beslag) or assigned (cession / overdracht): the Judicial Code sets bands, each seizable at its own rate (art. 1409).
• In 2026, the first €1,419 a month is protected; above €1,839, everything is seizable.
• Replacement income (unemployment, sickness, invalidity, pension) is seizable at 40 % instead of 30 % in the middle band (art. 1409, § 1bis).
• The seizable amount is reduced by €88 per declared dependent child in 2026 (art. 1409ter).
• For maintenance claims and a salary delegation, the limits do not apply: the whole income can be seized or assigned (art. 1412).
• Family allowances, disability allowances and CPAS social assistance can never be seized (art. 1410, § 2).

The wage garnishment calculator applies these bands to a net monthly income, band by band.

Seizure and assignment: same limits, different routes

The limits of art. 1409 apply both to a seizure and to an assignment of wages: the FPS Employment publishes a single table of "seizable and assignable" amounts.

• A seizure is an enforcement measure based on the courts (a protective or an enforcement seizure), usually carried out through a bailiff.
• An assignment is a contractual transfer of part of the wages to a creditor (law of 12 April 1965 and art. 1409). It is notified to the employer, who acts as the debtor of the assigned wages (débiteur cédé / overgedragen schuldenaar).

The starting point is always the net income: the gross income less social security contributions and withholding tax. The tool does not convert gross into net.

The 2026 bands

Each rate applies only to the part of the income within its band. The amounts are indexed every 1 January (art. 1409, § 2): the base amounts of €1,316, €1,414, €1,560 and €1,706 (€81 per child) are multiplied by the smoothed health index and rounded up to the next euro, by a royal decree published before 31 December. If the index moves more than 5 % during the year, a mid-year adaptation follows (art. 1409, § 2bis); none had been published for 2026 on 5 October 2026.

The tool uses the amounts of the year you choose, from 2024 to 2026.

The reduction for dependent children

The seizable or assignable amount "may be reduced" by a flat amount per dependent child. The reduction lowers the seizable amount, never below zero; it does not raise the protected threshold.

Which child. Under the royal decree of 27 December 2004, a dependent child is a child under 25 (or under extended minority) to whose housing, maintenance or education the debtor contributes substantially, and whose net resources over the 12 months before the declaration do not exceed, in 2026, €4,015 if the debtor cohabits, €5,799 if the debtor is single, or €7,352 for a disabled child. The debtor's contribution is presumed if the child lives with the debtor, even part-time, or if the maintenance paid exceeds the child amount.

The declaration (art. 1409ter and the second royal decree of 27 December 2004):

• the debtor declares the child on the form whose model is set by the Minister of Justice, with proof: health insurance certificate, household composition, custody judgment or agreement, or proof of maintenance payments;
• to the bailiff in charge for a seizure, or to the debtor of the assigned wages for an assignment;
• the reduction applies from the first payment after the declaration, for one year, renewable; changes must be reported;
• the creditor may contest it before the attachment judge (juge des saisies / beslagrechter).

Exceptions: maintenance claims and incomes never seized

Art. 1412. The limits of art. 1409 do not apply to maintenance claims (pension alimentaire / onderhoudsgeld) or to a salary delegation (délégation de sommes / loondelegatie), the court order that lets a spouse or former spouse receive part of the wages directly. The whole income can then be seized or assigned, and the reduction for children does not apply.

Art. 1410, § 2. Family allowances, disability allowances and CPAS social assistance cannot be seized at all.

Several incomes, self-employed income and maintenance

• Several incomes (art. 1411). Work incomes, or work income plus replacement income, are added together and the work scale applies to the total. Replacement incomes alone keep their own scale. Unseizable sums, such as family allowances, stay out of the total. Who withholds what between two payers is not set by statute.
• Self-employed income (art. 1409bis). There is no automatic protection: a debtor without art. 1409 income asks the attachment judge to keep what the debtor and the family need, calculated as under arts. 1409, § 1 and 1411.
• Maintenance and other creditors (art. 1412, al. 2). For ordinary creditors, the seizable part is the normal part less what is already taken or paid for maintenance.

The calculator has a field for each kind of income (work, replacement, self-employed) and one for the amount already withheld for maintenance. For self-employed income, its result is an indication of what the attachment judge may leave.

The bailiff's costs

A seizure is usually carried out by a bailiff, whose tariff (royal decree of 30 November 1976, amended by the royal decree of 18 May 2024) adds, in 2026:

• the administrative file fee: €52.63, once per file for the recovery of a sum of money (art. 8/1);
• the recovery fee, due when the debtor pays after the bailiff has stepped in, even directly to the creditor (art. 8). It is degressive: 8 % up to €2,631.28, then 5 %, 2 %, 1 %, 0.5 %, 0.25 % and 0.10 % by band, with a minimum of €15.79. It is calculated on the total to recover (principal, interest, penalty clauses, costs, procedural indemnity, file fee) and charged pro rata on each payment;
• 21 % VAT, and the €50 registration duty on each exploit or report, outside VAT and recovered as costs.

For claims under art. 591, 25° Judicial Code (energy, water, telecoms and, since 1 October 2024, medical, paramedical and school bills), the recovery fee is capped at €105.25. The bailiff costs calculator itemises these fees; the guide on litigation costs says who bears them.

Worked examples

A net salary of €2,000

With one declared dependent child, the seizable amount falls by €88 to €204.20; the debtor keeps €1,795.80. In 2025, the same salary gave €328.60 before any reduction.

Replacement income and children

• A net pension of €1,800: €21.00 + €63.20 (40 % of €158) + €47.20 (40 % of €118) = €131.40 a month. As work income, the same €1,800 gives €115.60.
• A net salary of €1,800 with two declared children: the reduction of €176 exceeds the seizable €115.60, so nothing is seized and the debtor keeps €1,800.
• The same salary seized for a maintenance claim: the limits do not apply (art. 1412), and the whole €1,800 can be seized.

Two incomes and a maintenance deduction

• A net salary of €1,200 and net unemployment benefit of €800: the €2,000 total follows the work scale, so €292.20 is seizable, as for a single salary of €2,000.
• If €400 a month is already taken from a €2,000 salary for maintenance, an ordinary creditor gets nothing: €292.20 less €400 leaves no seizable part.

The bailiff's recovery fee

On a total to recover of €3,000 in 2026: 8 % of €2,631.28 (€210.50) plus 5 % of €368.72 (€18.44) = €228.94 excluding VAT, €277.02 with VAT. For an art. 591, 25° claim, it would be capped at €105.25.

Check any income with the wage garnishment calculator.

Common mistakes and open points

• Starting from the gross income. The bands apply to the net income.
• Raising the threshold for children. The €88 is deducted from the seizable amount, not added to the protected amount.
• Applying the reduction without a declaration. It runs from the first payment after the declaration, for one year.
• Applying the limits to maintenance. Art. 1412 lifts them.
• Assuming the incomes are added automatically. In practice, the payers may ask the creditor whether it wants the incomes combined.
• Not checked by the tool. Whether the declared child meets the conditions. The resource ceilings are presumably those in force on the day of the declaration.

The tool assists the lawyer, who remains responsible for the calculation and for checking the applicable rule.

Sources

• Judicial Code, arts. 591, 1408, 1409 (as amended by the law of 19 December 2023, art. 57), 1409bis, 1409ter, 1410, 1411 and 1412: text on Justel. Verified on 5 October 2026.
• FPS Employment, seizure and assignment of wages (2026 amounts) and National Annual Holiday Office (ONVA), seizure and assignment. Verified on 5 October 2026.
• Royal decrees of 12 December 2023 (2024 amounts), 5 December 2024 (2025 amounts) and 3 December 2025 (2026 amounts, Belgian Official Gazette of 10 December 2025). Verified on 5 October 2026.
• Royal decrees of 27 December 2004 (notion of dependent child, art. 1 as replaced by the royal decree of 23 November 2006; proof and declaration procedure); 2026 ceilings: ONVA declaration form. Verified on 5 October 2026.
• Law of 12 April 1965, art. 7 (assignment notified to the debtor of the assigned wages). Verified on 4 October 2026.
• Royal decree of 30 November 1976, amended by the royal decree of 18 May 2024, arts. 8 and 8/1: 2026 tariff of the National Chamber of Bailiffs. Verified on 4 October 2026.