A court order that gives a creditor the right to collect money from a delinquent individual's paycheck is the definition of wage garnishment. A creditor can only perform this action by receiving a judgment from the courts to carry this method of collection out.

Government

Federal and state law does allow government to collect a certain amount of an individual's wages for the purpose of paying off debts. Government debts are not prohibited and chances are the government will collect the money that is owed to it from an individual.

Prohibitions

Some states do not allow garnishments at all. Each state has their own set of laws that determine the legal issues for wage garnishment and to what procedures that creditors must go through in order to collect debts.

Debtor Protection

The Consumer Credit Protection Act Title 3 limits the amount of wages that a creditor can take from a person. This act also keeps individuals from being fired by their employer because their wages are being garnisheed.

Bankruptcy

Some individuals try to use bankruptcy to avoid paying off debts. The fact is that the law for garnishment restriction does not apply to bankruptcy. In other words bankruptcy won't necessarily save a persons wages from being garnisheed unless a court order rules in favor of this decision.

Avoid Garnishment

Individuals who are behind in their debts can seek help with clearing up their debt in order to avoid wage garnishment. Setting up payment arrangements with a creditor is an option that may help some people to avoid this type of circumstance.

Source:

United States Department of Labor

Department of Labor: Garnishment

Federal Student Aid: Garnishment

Resource:

Lawyers.com