Stop a Wage Garnishment in Oklahoma

If you are in a financial situation that prevents you from paying all of your debts to your creditors, then you need to speak with a bankruptcy lawyer in Tulsa about possibly filing bankruptcy. If you are behind on your bills, creditors are probably calling continuously and sending threatening letters to you. You may even have been threatened with a lawsuit or worse, you have a lawsuit judgment against you and a payroll garnishment has already begun. Filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Oklahoma can stop and even eliminate wage garnishments.

Once the garnishment begins, your employer will be required to take up to 25% of your net take-home pay after deducting all your state and federal taxes and Social Security and Medicare contributions. A garnishment is taken before you receive your paycheck. Human resources or the person who handles payroll at your place of employment will know your personal financial business. The garnishment takes a huge chunk from your take home pay and will probably deepen your financial crisis.  A wage garnishment may cause you to be unable to pay your other obligations and may even impact your ability to provide food and shelter for you and your family. Having your wages garnished is embarrassing as well as devastating financially.

Payroll garnishments can be stopped dead in their tracks and future garnishments can be prevented. Immediately after you file Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Oklahoma the automatic stay goes into effect and stops ALL collection action by creditors. Creditors cannot add more charges to your accounts and the amounts you owe are frozen. They cannot continue to garnish your wages, repossess your car, or foreclose on your property. Once the debt related to the garnishment is discharged at the conclusion of the bankruptcy case, the garnishment cannot be reinstated. However, there are some exceptions to this rule, such as garnishments for past due child support or alimony.

Certain Funds Cannot be Garnished

There are garnishment exemptions for certain benefits including Social Security payments, SSI benefits, disability benefits, VA benefits, and federal student benefits to name a few. Oklahoma state law exempts unemployment compensation, worker’s compensation payments, and most pension benefits for the purposes of garnishment.

While these exempt sources of income cannot be directly garnished, they can be temporarily garnished once they are deposited into your bank account. A garnishment against the funds in your bank account is called a bank account levy. The best way to prevent a levy or a set-off is to keep your exempt funds in an account that is separate from nonexempt funds. It is now quite easy to open a checking account over the internet and have your benefits directly deposited in to that separate account. It is much simpler to recover exempt funds if they are garnished from a separate account. If exempt and nonexempt funds are commingled into a single account, it is more difficult to prove which funds are exempt to a court.

Answers to Your Garnishment Questions

If your paycheck is being garnished contact the Henson Law Firm at 918.551.8955 or click “Schedule a Free Virtual Consultation” on our website to setup a FREE and confidential initial consultation with a bankruptcy lawyer in Tulsa to answer your garnishment questions, learn how to stop the wage garnishment, and begin working toward securing your financial future.

*We are a debt relief law firm in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

*We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.