How to Protect Yourself from Wage Garnishment

Wage garnishment is a court or government agency order that mandates that the individual’s employer withhold a specified amount from the individual’s wages and forward the withheld amount to a specific creditor. The amount of income that can be garnished depends upon the type debt detailed in the order and can be affected by state and federal limits. State and federal government garnishment limits are public information and are described on the applicable website.

Type of Debt

Creditors attempting to garnish an individual’s wages are first required to obtain a judgment and a court order. The amount of the judgment must be clearly stated. Individuals have the right to appear before the court and oppose the judgment.

However, while a judgment and court order are necessary for all general creditors, this policy does not apply to all creditors. For example, cases involving child support, state, federal and local taxes do not require this practice. These creditors and authorities have the right to garnish wages without court orders.

Child Support and Alimony

As of 1988, child support orders are all accompanied by a wage withholding order. For persons obligated by the court to pay child support and who fall behind with payments, wages can be garnished without an additional court order.

This same policy is in place form persons obligated by the court to pay alimony. In both these cases, no advance notice is required.

Garnishments for alimony and child support have much higher limits than the limits for general creditors or for government tax orders. Federal law allows child support garnishments up to 50 percent of the individual’s disposable earning or gross wages less mandatory deductions for persons with more than one child or spouse to support.

In cases where the individual has only one child to support, the garnishment can amount to 60 percent of disposable earnings. If the individual is behind for 12 weeks or more, the amount of garnishment may be increased by 5 percent. This same formula applies to alimony.

Unpaid Income Taxes

If an individual owes more back taxes, the Internal Revenue Service can garnish the individual’s wages without a court order. The IRS can has an intricate system to determine their garnishment capabilities. The system depends upon the number of dependents, income and deductions of the individual. Normally, the IRS gives individual notice before garnishing wages.

State and local government can also garnish wages for unpaid taxes without the use of a court order. The amount of allowable garnishment is determined by the state and the local authority. State labor departments can advise interested parties as to the garnishment levels for unpaid state taxes.

Student Loans

For person who are delinquent on student loan payments, the US Department of Education can also garnish wages without a court order or notice. The amount of student loan garnishment is restricted to no more than 15 percent of the individual’s disposable income.

Other Creditors

If you are behind with credit card payments, medical bills and other general credit obligations, a court order is required in order to garnish your wages. There are many advantages to attempting to enter a payment plan rather than live under the threat of garnishment.