Are wage garnishment laws different for members of the military?

For members of the United States Military, no matter the branch, or for any other employee of the United States Department of Defense, the laws involving wage garnishment are enforceable in situations that call for it. However, there are special rules for wage garnishment for military members and certain steps that must be taken when trying to enforce a garnishment on a service member’s wages.

• For one, an active military service member may not have a wage garnishment enforced upon his or her earnings if he is currently deployed on active duty in wartime, as there are federal acts set in place that protect United States service members from financial enforcements such as wage garnishments, foreclosures, or repossessions of property while the individual is serving in wartime overseas.  
• Beyond that stipulation, however, the only regulation stated that makes enforcing a wage garnishment on a member of any branch of the United States military any different than enforcing a garnishment order on an American civilian is the fact that the garnishment order is to be delivered to the Defense Department’s Defense Finance and Accounting Services Division in Cleveland, Ohio. A copy must also be delivered directly to the individual the garnishment is being ordered against.

If you are a member of the military and are experiencing wage garnishment, you should strongly consider speaking with an experienced attorney. Your lawyer can help you to explore your options for dealing with the garnishment as quickly as possible so you can protect your income and paychecks from your creditors.