[jdspud]

My wife has had a judgement against her and the court has allowed our joint account to be attached. Now they have sent a summons for a garnishment hearing but she is not employed. The first notice gave a date of July 16th but they moved it to Aug 8th and they added my name to the document as co-owner of the joint account. I have a few questions -

1) I'm trying get the money together (I have about half now) to pay the judgement (approx $7k) and I was thinking should I just call them a make an offer of say, $4k and see if they'll take it?

2) Do I need to be concerned about my wages being Garnished? I am just a co-owner of the Checking account and I had nothing to do with her Credit problem (I signed nothing and didn't appear on any of the documents up to now).

3) What else can they try to do? My wife has no job, no income, only the joint checking. Also, she's not even on the title of the house as I owned it prior to us getting married and just never got around to adding her (and she let's me know it).

4) Should I go to the court on the 8th and get them to take my name off it and I'm not a party to the debt just the account?

Just to let you know, no money is going into the account and the bank has agreed to draw any outstanding checks from my own account. They were also open to discussion of refunding me some of the overdraft charges that occurred.

THanks for any answers - Oh, I'm in Virginia.

[mr.yet]

You need to file a Motion to Quash the Garnishment, by way of third party claim against the funds in the account. Request a hearing.

If you can prove to the court that it is your and not the wife's, the judge will quash the garnishment, you must a strick proof of who deposited the funds in the account. Send a copy to the bank as well.

This will also prevent the bank from releasing the funds until after the hearing

[jdspud]

My wife has had a judgement against her and the court has allowed our joint account to be attached. Now they have sent a summons for a garnishment hearing but she is not employed. The first notice gave a date of July 16th but they moved it to Aug 8th and they added my name to the document as co-owner of the joint account. I have a few questions -

1) I'm trying get the money together (I have about half now) to pay the judgement (approx $7k) and I was thinking should I just call them a make an offer of say, $4k and see if they'll take it?

2) Do I need to be concerned about my wages being Garnished? I am just a co-owner of the Checking account and I had nothing to do with her Credit problem (I signed nothing and didn't appear on any of the documents up to now).

3) What else can they try to do? My wife has no job, no income, only the joint checking. Also, she's not even on the title of the house as I owned it prior to us getting married and just never got around to adding her (and she let's me know it).

4) Should I go to the court on the 8th and get them to take my name off it and I'm not a party to the debt just the account?

Just to let you know, no money is going into the account and the bank has agreed to draw any outstanding checks from my own account. They were also open to discussion of refunding me some of the overdraft charges that occured.

THanks for any answers - Oh, I'm in Virginia.

Thanks for the quick info but I'm unclear on some things in your answer. Probably the terminology - when you say "Quash the Garnishment" is that to prevent then from Garnishing my pay? How can they do that? I'm not a party of the debt - I didn't sign anything and my wife paid it from her account. I never paid anything to capital one. Or are you referring to the account that has this "hold" on it? I'm confused as I thought Garnishment referred to wages and Attachment was to your account.

Sounds like I should probably get a lawyer or can I do this myself?

[jdspud]

I must of clicked on the wrong button - I meant my last post to answer mr.yet. Sorry

[ScottGem]

They can't garnish your salary, you were not a party to the debt.

If you can prove that your wife was not the source of any money in the account you may be able to get some of it back.

Definitely make them a settlement offer. Since your wife is pretty much judgement proof, they probably will accept a fraction of the amount due. If they do, make sure you get it in writing that they are accepting the settlement as payment in full.

Garnishment can refer to attaching an account as well.

[jdspud]

Scot -

You've been very helpful - thank you. You don't know how much you have eased my mind on this matter. I have been calling the number on the paper work but no one is answering. I assume this is some kind of ploy on their part. I will try other means to contact them and offer them a settlement. The court date is Aug 6 - if I can settle before then it would be great.

One thought came to mind - If I can't settle before then, what should I do at the court date or should I file a motion before then?

Thanks again for the great info -

[ScottGem]

You need to file your Intent to Defend. Do not wait on that. You need to send the creditor written requests for documentation of the debt. If you offer a settlement, make it pending proof of the debt and make it in writing.

If you have to go to court, you make them produce documentation and you show the judge that you offered a reasonable settlement.

[jdspud]

Thanks, Scott - I'm looking for a lawyer now. Have a few prospects - I'll update this as things progress.