Do I Need a Lawyer To Determine Garnishment Exemptions?

The laws in regards to garnishment of wages within the United States can be quite complex to those who are not from a legal background. The actual term "garnishment" refers to your work being requested to deduct a portion of your salary to pay any debts owed. The request for wage garnishment is done by the courts, and information is then transmitted to your employer. If you have been told by the courts that some of your salary will be garnished, it is important to understand that there are garnishment exemptions, so it might be possible to receive a good portion of your salary.

National Garnishment Laws

When looking at garnishment exemptions for a salary, it will be necessary to look at what the national law states. According to the federal government, a creditor can only garnish from twenty-five percent of your salary. The remaining seventy-five percent is subject to a garnishment exemption.

If someone is paid hourly, then at least 30 times the amount of the minimum hourly wage is also exempt from being garnished from your salary. In this regard, you can take comfort knowing that the national garnishment laws will take more weight over any state law in operation. This is especially true if the exemption for the national law is higher.

Examples of State Garnishment Laws

For some people, there are state garnishment laws that can decide how much money is deducted from his or her salary to pay creditors. Most of the states such as California, Arizona, Iowa, and Ohio. These are examples of states that will have garnishment exemptions that are in line with the federal or national salary garnishment exemptions.

However, there are some states that have there own exemptions such Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Nevada. In Delaware, residents can expect a garnishment of at least. Massachusetts allows its residents to be exempt from garnishment at least $125 per week regardless of his or her salary. In New Jersey, the state garnishment exemption is around 90 percent of the salary. In Nevada, only 25 percent of the salary is exempted from garnishment.

It should also be noted that each state will have their own statute of limitation on the time limit that a creditor can apply for collection against a debt.

Getting Legal Help

If you have been told your salary would need to be garnished and you would like to know what are your garnishment exemptions, it will be very important to immediately contact an attorney to discuss circumstances.