3 Potential Reasons Why You Could Have Your Wages Garnished

Even though you might have heard of wage garnishment, you might have never found yourself in a situation in which your own wages were garnished. However, there are various situations in which this can happen. These are a few potential reasons why you could have your wages garnished.

1. Unpaid Child Support

One very common reason for wage garnishment is failure to pay child support. Nowadays, the courts in many areas take unpaid child support cases very seriously. Not only could you potentially face jail time and other consequences for not paying your child support, but you could also find that money is taken from your paycheck each pay period to pay back the money that you owe. Working with a child support lawyer who can help you ensure that your payments are fair and reasonable and doing your best to stay on top of your payments can help prevent this from happening, however.

2. Unpaid Taxes

Owing taxes isn't uncommon. The problem for many people is the fact that the government can have your paycheck garnished to basically force you to pay your taxes. Working with an accountant can help you get as many credits and deductions as possible, and making a payment arrangement to pay your taxes is usually going to be a much better alternative to ignoring the situation and waiting for the taxes to be garnished from your paycheck.

3. Personal Debts in Collections

A lot of people don't realize it, but depending on the laws in your state, there is a chance that your wages could be garnished due to personal debts. For example, if you owe money to an ex-landlord or a credit card company and if you get taken to court, you could face having your wages garnished until the amount that you owe is paid back. Having to deal with this on top of the credit-related issues that can go along with collections and judgments can be a lot to deal with. If possible, it's usually best to try to come to an agreement with your creditors before it gets this far.

As you can see, there are various reasons why peoples' wages get garnished. Having part of your paycheck taken before you even get a chance to touch it can be incredibly upsetting and can put you in a tough financial situation, however, so this is not a situation that should be taken lightly. Luckily, if you work with an attorney, such as Stuart J Sinsheimer Attorney at Law, you can get some help with your situation.


Share