One of the three primary reasons people seek out my firm for help, along with foreclosure and repossession, is a pending garnishment.  Garnishments are most commonly generated by a civil court judgment, although certain tax problems can also result in a payroll garnishment.  (If you are interested in tax garnishments, please see that section of this website.)  If you have failed to pay on a medical bill, credit card or other contractual arrangement and the creditor has sued you, then, if you do not successfully defend the lawsuit, the creditor will receive a judgment issued by a state court judge.  The creditor can "execute" on the judgment by having a Sheriff come to your home to collect and sell property or, more commonly, they will have a writ of garnishment issued by the judge.

A writ of garnishment is a legal document that allows the creditor, under Arkansas law, to forcibly take from your employer up to twenty-five percent (25%) of your pre-tax wages.  This means if, for example, you earn $1,000.00 gross per paycheck and normally take home about $800.00, then the creditor will take the first $250.00 of the paycheck leaving you with a gross check of $750.00 with taxes then being taken out as if you had been paid $1,000.00.  This means that the garnishment will be more than 25% of your take home pay.

In addition to the payroll or wage garnishment, the creditor can also garnish your checking account, savings account or other similar deposit account.  Unlike the 25% limitation on payroll garnishment, there is no limit to the amount of funds they can take from your checking account during a bank account garnishment except that they cannot take more than they are owed.  Most people are aware or have heard that Social Security benefits cannot be garnished.  However, this is only partially true.  Creditors cannot seize a Social Security benefit check, but once that check is deposited in a bank account and co-mingled with other funds, that creditors can seize all of those funds from the bank account. 

Chapter 7 & Chapter 13 bankruptcy STOP GARNISHMENTS cold.  Both forms of bankruptcy remove the garnishment from your payroll and prevent the garnishment from ever being reissued upon receiving your discharge from whichever Chapter you file under.  A discharge is what a person receives from the successful completion of a bankruptcy.  The discharge is a Federal Court Order that says that the creditor may NEVER again attempt to collect from you.  If you want more information on discharge, please see that portion of our website.  If you are facing a garnishment, call us today at (501) 753-7400 to set an appointment for your free consultation or you may contact us via the "Email for help" button on this website.

FREE Initial Consultation - we take the time to provide you sound and thorough advice on all of your legal options. After our visit you will walk away with a relief and peace of mind you have not had in a long time.

Put our years of experience to work for you.  Call us now: 501-753-7400.