When you are already doing all you can to bring home as much money as you can, it gets really frustrating to find out that your wages are being garnished. Living from paycheck to paycheck is hard enough without being robbed by someone who thinks you should be paying them too. If you want to stop wage garnishment, you first have to understand how it starts, and then all the ways you can stop it.
Child Support
Child support is the number one reason wages are garnished. This usually happens when you have been ordered to pay child support, but you definitely have not been doing so. Whatever the reason, you need to resume paying child support, and the easiest way for the state to collect it is to garnish your wages. If you want to stop child support garnishments, you can begin paying even more money directly to your state's child support department, which will reduce the garnishments and eventually stop them altogether.
IRS or State Tax Department
Not paying your taxes is the second leading cause of wage garnishment. The IRS can begin to pull money from your checks almost immediately. The state in which you reside can begin to pull money within a month or two of the court's decision, which is often a surprise to those who see that their wages are being garnished. If BOTH the IRS and the state tax department hits you simultaneously, you will be hurting for money. You can call both of these government agencies and request leniency and reduced payments over a longer period of time.
Debt Owner's Request
If you owe money to a bank or a credit card company and have not paid them in a very long time, they can file a suit to garnish your wages. You are entitled to appear at this hearing and speak to the reasons why you cannot have your wages garnished. However, because you admit to owing the money, the judge is still inclined to force wage garnishment. If you appear with a lawyer, you may stop the garnishment or reduce the amount taken from your checks.
Post-Bankruptcy
If you file for bankruptcy, one or more of the debts you owe could result in wage garnishment. This usually happens when a debt collector appears at your bankruptcy hearing and demands that you pay some of your debt. To smooth ruffled feathers, the judge may decide that you need to pay a portion of the debt owed to each of the collectors that makes an appearance. This is almost always done by wage garnishment. If you can, pay some of these debts a little bit before you get to court so that the judge rules in your favor. Talk with a lawyer, such as Donald T Tesch, PS, for more help.
Share20 July 2017
