Can a creditor garnish wages AND bank acct?

[twinsplus14me]

We are expecting very soon to have my husband's wages garnished. Can they do the bank acct and garnish his payroll with the employer at the same time?

What if you have 2 different creditors garnishing? Can they each take 25%?

[HHM]

We are expecting very soon to have my husband's wages garnished. Can they do the bank acct and garnish his payroll with the employer at the same time?

YES

What if you have 2 different creditors garnishing? Can they each take 25%?

Generally, NO. how it works depends on the state, some states are first come, first served...the first creditor that garnishes gets all 25% until their garnishment expires, so the 2nd creditor has to wait. Some states have a scale...first creditor gets "xx%", then the second creditor gets a certain percent, but the combined amount cannot exceed the maximum allowed for the garnishment.

[twinsplus14me]

I think we'll cancel the direct deposit!

I guess we should just leave enough money in the bank acct to keep it open till after the bk is done?

I'm afraid we won't be able to open another bank acct after we file.

Does that mean they can take 25% of what we have in our bank acct, and take 25% of his payroll in the same pay period? In essence, we would lose half of his check every 2 weeks?

The only income we have is his payroll and a VA disability check $100/mo.

We are in OR.

[HHM]

It depends on how garnishment works in your state...

The payroll is straightforward, 25% (or whatever your state percent is)

The bank account issue depends: some states hold that once the money goes into the bank account, it loses its status as wages, and simply becomes cash and therefore the creditor can clean out the account. Some states allow you to claim the wage exemption on money deposited in a bank account assuming YOU can prove the money in the account is directly traceable to wages, and thus, the creditor can only take 25% of the cash in the account that is wages (and 100% of cash that is not wages or otherwise exempt).