Wage garnishment
Get your whole paycheck back
When a creditor wins a judgment, it can ask the court to take part of every paycheck, up to a quarter of your take-home pay. That can make rent, gas and groceries impossible, and it goes on until the debt is paid or something stops it.
Filing for bankruptcy is one thing that stops it. After we file, the automatic stay generally requires your employer to stop withholding, and we send the notice ourselves. Depending on the debt, Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 may fit. We also check whether the garnishment was done properly in the first place, and whether any of your pay is protected from it.
Bring to the first call
The court papers about the judgment
Your last two pay stubs
Any letter from your employer's payroll office
How a garnishment ends
Most of the work is done in the first week.
- 01
Step 1: Check the judgment
We look at who won it, for how much and how it reached your paycheck.
- 02
Step 2: Choose the chapter
We compare Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 for this debt and give you a fee in writing.
- 03
Step 3: File and notify
The day we file, we send notice to your employer and to the creditor.
- 04
Step 4: Watch the next paycheck
Employers usually stop at the next pay period once they have notice. If one does not, you call us and we deal with it.
Garnishment questions
About the money coming out
How fast does a garnishment stop?
Once the case is filed, we notify your employer and the creditor the same day. Employers usually stop at the next pay period.
Can bankruptcy erase the debt behind it?
Often. Judgments on credit cards, medical bills and personal loans usually can be erased. Child support, most student loans and taxes are handled differently.
What about a frozen bank account?
A bank levy is a different tool, but a filing generally stops it as well. Tell us about it on the first call.
Will my employer find out?
If your wages are garnished, your employer already knows about the garnishment. We send only the notice that stops it.
Bring your last pay stub
Bring the stub and the court papers to the first call, and we will tell you what can be done about the garnishment.
The first call is free and does not start a case.