Lawyers Helping Clients Avoid Wage Garnishments
It is a frightening experience, finding out that your wages are being garnished. It is a sign for many people that their financial problems are beyond their control and they need help. It is a feeling of powerlessness.
Our lawyers can help you. At Badgley Law Group, we represent clients throughout Orlando and central Florida in a range of debt relief matters, including Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy options. Our lawyers have a wealth of experience helping clients whose wages are being garnished. We can either stop garnishment of your wages or at least minimize the amount that is being taken.
Wage Garnishments, Generally
In general, a wage garnishment is when a creditor takes a certain amount of your income to begin satisfying debts that are in arrears. Assuming a creditor follows the proper procedures and does not violate your rights in the process, it is a legal operation that is used frequently in debt situations.
What You Need To Know About Wage Garnishments
There are a number of things to understand about wage garnishments:
- Limits to wage garnishments: Creditors cannot simply take as much from you as they want every month. The legal limits are strict. Creditors cannot take more than 25% of your income or the amount your disposable income exceeds 30 times the federal minimum wage, whichever is less of these two. This is a high bar that often results in little to no actual garnishment of someone’s wages.
- Exemptions to wage garnishments: In addition to the limits on garnishments, Florida has certain exemptions that could put you outside of the reach of your creditors for purposes of garnishing your wages. If you are legally deemed the head of your household, this could exempt you. Further, various Social Security benefits and other public benefits could result in being exempt.
- Stalling wage garnishments: Filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy relief will stall all collections efforts, including wage garnishments. Often this automatic stay gives debtors a chance to get their finances more under control and get caught up on these debts.
- Stopping wage garnishments: Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a debt liquidation option that could eliminate the debts that would result in garnishments.
There are numerous options available to help you avoid or at least minimize wage garnishments. Our attorneys have a strong understanding of this area of law, so we can talk through your options with you and help you get the results you need.
Contact Us Today
We offer free consultations, so you will not have to pay anything to discuss your options in an initial consultation. To learn how our attorneys can help you, call 407-686-1819 or contact us online.