Garnishment, a serious legal process with possibly devastating consequences.

How can you fight against it?

A garnishment can be a serious consequence of neglecting your financial affairs. As far as possible, limit your exposure to having the government or a private corporation confiscate your salary, bonuses, or bank accounts to pay any debts.

What is a garnishment?

Garnishment is a legal process by which the government takes some resource of yours, usually your salary in order to repay a debt. It is a process by which a corporation or a government agency can take a portion of your paycheck or a portion of your bank account. This process is often used as a last resort to collect child support alimony, student loan payments or old debts. It usually requires a court order, except in the case of the IRS. Under the consumer credit protection act, 25% is the most they can take out of your wages. There are two types of wage garnishments, attachment of earnings or simple wage garnishment. Attachment of earnings could apply to bonuses or commissions in addition to salary. For instance, a real estate broker’s commissions can be attached using a court order. It is usually only applied to your disposable income, not your gross income. If there are multiple orders for garnishment, the top priorities will be child support, alimony or any kind of support order. Once they’ve reached 25% they can no longer take money out of your income, unless it is for child support or some other government purpose. Private creditors must go to court to receive a judgment in order to make a garnishment of your wages, but government institutions do not need a court order.

Contact an attorney or legal aid in your state in order to find out exactly what are your rights and responsibilities when facing a garnishment.

What do I own now that they can garnish?

If you are receiving child support, alimony, disability, or Social Security, in the form of retirement income, these will be exempt from garnishment by creditors. Some states will protect a part of your income, especially if you’re getting child support, alimony, or disability checks. And your Social Security retirement income will be exempt from garnishment by private creditors but not government institutions. You must file a special form with the government in order to stop creditors from taking any property of yours that is exempt. If there is a head of household exemption in your state, virtually all your pay will be exempt from garnishment if you support a dependent Your income cannot be garnished unless you give written consent. So, if you are a single parent or someone supporting a grandparent or other dependents in your household, you have a lot of protection from this kind of action by government or private creditors.

What are the limits to a garnishment?

Social Security can only be garnished for things like child support, back taxes and student loans. Ordinary creditors like credit cards or store cards like Jordan marsh cannot garnish your Social Security. Student loans cannot garnish more than 15% of your earnings, and child support can take about 50% of your monthly income.

For more information on garnishment.

Lagos and Lopez can help you with garnishment problems. Go to our website for the steps you need to take and for our contact information. In conclusion, debts can haunt you for years. Seek our help and calmly take a step towards rehabilitating your financial future.