Wage garnishment is a legal procedure in which your employer is required, by court order, to withhold money from your paycheck and send it to another party to fulfill your financial obligation toward them. Specifically, your due creditors may submit a wage garnishment petition with the court to pay themselves back for the outstanding debts you have with them. Understandably, you may view this order as counterintuitive, in that you probably struggled to pay your creditors back in the first place because you did not have enough personal funds to support yourself. This may have you searching for more sustainable, alternative payment methods. Without further ado, please follow along to find out the best ways to stop wage garnishment and how a proficient Louisville, Kentucky consumer bankruptcy lawyer at Schwartz Bankruptcy Law Center can help you receive your entitled payments.
What are the best ways to stop wage garnishment?
You must jump into action as soon as you receive a wage garnishment notice. That is, you should take any one of the following initiatives:
- You may negotiate a better-fitted repayment plan with your due creditor or the debt collection agency they sold your debt to.
- You may enter a debt settlement agreement with your creditor or a debt collection agency and make a single lump-sum payment.
- You may challenge a wage garnishment notice (i.e., some of your income is exempt, is already being garnished by another creditor, etc).
- You may file a wage garnishment exemption claim with the court.
- You may liquidate your assets or get a loan to pay your creditor.
Of note, if your financial situation is particularly dire, the best way to stop wage garnishment may be bankruptcy. This is because the Kentucky bankruptcy court may put an automatic stay into effect immediately. With an automatic stay, your due creditors may be hindered from engaging in collection activities like submitting a wage garnishment petition against you.
When is it unlikely that I will stop the garnishing of my wages?
You must understand that barring wage garnishment may be more difficult if your employer has already received the court order. This is because your due creditor may have already used the funds they subsequently received from your employer. So, again, it is in your best interest to get ahead of this situation.
In addition, depending on the types of debts you have, it may be challenging if not impossible to stop wage garnishment. For example, family support debts (i.e., child support and spousal support debts) may not qualify for an exemption from wage garnishment. Of note, not even an automatic stay from your bankruptcy filing may change this.
We strongly encourage you to retain the services of a talented Louisville, Kentucky consumer bankruptcy lawyer. You may do so by scheduling a free initial consultation with Schwartz Bankruptcy Law Center at your earliest convenience.
