Reader Question About New Banakruptcy Laws of Indiana: Is There A Statute of Limitations?

Ronald Groovy June-29-2010 No Comments »

A great many questions I get asked by readers and by bankruptcy clients have to do with wage garnishment. As a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana, I know how very upsetting it can be to have your pay garnished. You’re trying to hold onto a job during these hard times, and now you know that your employer knows – you’re having trouble keeping the bills paid!

Wage garnishment, just to review, is a legal procedure that starts when a creditor obtains a court order forcing an employer to withhold money from an employee’s paycheck for the repayment of debt.

A question similar to today’s reader question was posed in person to one of the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices there: Can a garnishment court order be obtained for debts that are years old, or is there a time limit?

The general answer to the question is this:

For credit card accounts or written contracts for paying money, the statute of limitations is six years. That means if the debt is more than six years old, the creditor no longer has the option to garnish your wages to collect that debt.

On domestic judgments, by contrast, the limit is twenty years! That means that on child support and alimony debts, the law is much, much stricter. That is one of the main reasons I keep saying that it’s best when divorce attorneys and bankruptcy attorneys to coordinate their strategies on behalf of a client.

As a bankruptcy attorney in Indiana, I have almost 25 years’ experience in dealing with different forms of Indiana bankruptcy help. I can tell you that, while an employer is not allowed to fire you solely on the basis of a wage garnishment order, once you have more than one wage garnishment, your job is not protected by the law. Just one more reason to seek professional help early.

In many cases, with a debt consolidation lawyer’s help, you can negotiate direct payment plans with creditors so that your employer needn’t become involved in your financial issues at all. Creditors would actually rather deal directly with you than go to court.

Remember, there’s never a statue of limitations on getting Indiana debt help!

Get Bankruptcy Help

Need Bankruptcy Help – We can help you