What exactly is a process of garnishment? Can some one break this down into simple terms for me please.

What exactly is a process of garnishment? Can some one break this down into simple terms for me please.



Party #1 gets a money Judgment against Party #2 according to the laws in that particular State.

Party #2 gets a copy of the money Judgment from the Court.

Party #1 then attempts to collect the money Judgment by any legal means possible. If #1 knows where #2 works, depending on the State (and the exact procedure varies), #1 gets an Order to take a percentage (also varies by State and income) of #2's income directly from the employer without ever passing through #2's hands. The employer is also allowed to take a small percentage in handling fees. The garnishment (which is the taking of a percentage of wages) lasts until the Judgment is paid in full.

Is that what you are asking? This is a pretty simplistic explanation - do you need more detail?

There can also be a garnishment for child support, both ongoing and past.

I just recently had a garnishment placed on my account and what happened was that the Attorney's for a credit card company froze not only my checking account they withdrew a certain amount from it and froze it meaning that I could not take anything out of my account. They also froze my savings leaving me with $0.00 in my account and they took it a step further and froze my three year old son's account as well just because I was custodian. I later received another letter that they were freezing a safe deposit box which is actually my mother's but has my name on it. It was ridiculous! In order to get the garnishment off you have to go to court and request a hearing about the ordeal, but I was able to get out of it. I called the Plaintiff's Attorney and told him that I was undergoing debt settlement and that they were the ones that were suppose to be discussing this issue with them and the creditor but he told me that he didn't care and that he hadn't heard from them and that they had spoken with me on several occasion and I never paid up. By the end of the phone call anyhow, he realized that I was crying and so he transferred me to someone in their garnishment department. I took the money I had saved with the debt settlement company and paid the plaintiff's attorney and my funds were released after about a week. Unfortunately they didn't refund $100 of my money because you actually have to pay for th e garnishment itself. I hope this helps. I had no idea what a garnishment meant. I had run this by my debt settlement company on several occasions but they always stated that everything would be okay, but when that happened they couldn't help me and told me that I was on my on. Believe me you, I am most definitely through with them!

Thank you both. My husband was supposed to go to court for a child support hearing and his lawyer told him it was postponed and it turned out that it wasn't but he's paid on the child support since then, Today he was served with process of garnishment papers.

[QUOTE]They also froze my savings leaving me with $0.00 in my account and they took it a step further and froze my three year old son's account as well just because I was custodian. I later received another letter that they were freezing a safe deposit box which is actually my mother's but has my name on it. It was ridiculous!


Actually can they can freeze anything with your name on it - individual, joint, custodial - and then the person whose funds were frozen has to work out the details and the legality.

Thank you both. My husband was supposed to go to court for a child support hearing and his lawyer told him it was postponed and it turned out that it wasn't but he's paid on the child support since then, Today he was served with process of garnishment papers.


If he is paying what is the garnishment for? Back child support? Or is this ongoing support - usually happens if there is a spotty payment history because it guarantees regular payments.

Was your husband served with the Judgment or Order for ongoing or back support?

Thank you both. My husband was supposed to go to court for a child support hearing and his lawyer told him it was postponed and it turned out that it wasn't but he's paid on the child support since then, Today he was served with process of garnishment papers.

What often happens when a parent is ordered to pay support and is paying it voluntarily that the other parent claims he's not so a garnishment is made against his salary.

His lawyer is at fault for not following up on the hearing. His lawyer should be demanding a new hearing whre he can present all his cancelled checks to prove he has been paying. But frankly, iot would be better to let the garnishment go. This way he knows there is a record of the payments.

I hope this helps.

It was nice of you to relate your experience to help. None of your experience surprises me since its typical. However, if you want to discuss it further and get help, please start your own thread so we don't have two separate issues here.