View Full Version : Legality of garnishing ss disabilty?
ricky12256
Apr 24, 2012, 07:01 PM
Nc dept of revenue garnished my bank account of my s s disability income. It is the only deposits made to the acct. I thought the social security act had established federal law against such. Left me with 0 balance which it seems is another breech of law seeing my sole income is my disability, to wit that the constitution states that no one shall be deprived of life, limb or property without due process of law. If this is not life depriving leaving me stranded with no money for food, gas, dr, and needing to see a dentist urgently which I tried to save some towards is now gone. What can I do and what legality did they have in doing such.
ScottGem
Apr 25, 2012, 03:48 AM
First, Once it is in the bank account it is considered commingled funds and is unprotected. Second, if this debt is unpaid income or property taxes, there may not be a necessity for the state to first obtain a judgment. Were you not aware that you owed something? Third, trying a constitutional argument to justify not paying your bills is not going to fly.
If they did obtain a judgement and served a writ of execution on your bank, then you go back to the court that issued it and prove that all funds deposited in the account were exempt. If there was no judgment, you get a copy of whatever legal document the bank received to freeze your funds and you go to court for an emergency stay of the freeze.
ScottGem
Apr 25, 2012, 08:33 AM
Please don't use the comments for follow-up use the Reply or answer options.
Fr_Chuck
Apr 25, 2012, 09:36 AM
This is not a constitutional issue, please don't even consider that, garnishment of bank accounts has been allowed and is an accepted legal practice.
The only legal issue here is what if any of your money is protected.
The bank is suppose to check the source of your income at the time of garnishment, and if that is from SSI, then the last 60 days of deposits are protected, The funds in the bank account over the last 60 days are not protected from garnishment automatically by the bank.
Also if there is any mixing of funds, that is another issue.
I do note that SSI is not totally protected from garnishments either. Child suport, alimony and other Federal debts may all be garnished.
The issue I see is that this is for state taxes, I can not see where taxes from states can be garnished. So you will need to file a motion in the court to have this money returned.
Protecting SSDI Benefits from Creditors | Social Security (http://www.allsup.com/personal-finance/financial-planning/protecting-ssdi-benefits-from-creditors.aspx)