Wage garnishment can affect your ability to fulfill your financial needs. Before and after the garnishment has been granted, you can act to possibly prevent or stop it. If you are facing a garnishment, here is what you need to know:

Can Bankruptcy Help?

One of the most commonly used options for stopping a wage garnishment is to file for bankruptcy. An automatic stay is issued once the petition for bankruptcy is filed with the court. You can take the court order to the creditor who is garnishing your wages and demand that future garnishments are stopped. The court will also notify the creditor.

Bankruptcy also gives you a way to deal with other debts. Regardless of whether you file for a Chapter 7 or 13, bankruptcy can give you the space needed to cultivate a plan for handling your financial matters.

It is important to note that there are some garnishments that cannot be stopped by the automatic stay. For instance, child support and alimony payments are not impacted by the stay. Your employer will have to continue to deduct those funds from your pay. Talk to your attorney to learn about other methods for potentially modifying your child support or alimony order to make them more affordable.

What If You Do Not Want to File for Bankruptcy?

Even though bankruptcy is an option that can help you out of a financial jam, there are other options available. For instance, you can opt for debt counseling. A debt counselor could potentially negotiate with your creditor to stop the garnishment and arrange to repay your debts.

If the creditor has yet to file for garnishment, you could try to negotiate directly with it to prevent any further action. Your creditor would likely prefer to work out an agreement than go to court. Going to court can be costly and even with wage garnishment, there is no guarantee that the creditor will be paid.

Another option is to object to the garnishment altogether. If you object, you need to have a good reason or the court will allow the garnishments to continue. For instance, you could argue that the amount of the deductions is too much and it is causing a financial hardship for you.

Regardless of the reason for the garnishment, you should confer with an attorney to explore options for either stopping or reducing them. With a legal expert on your side, you have a better chance of successfully resolving the problem.

Contact a law office like Donald T Tesch, PS for more information and assistance.