Garnishment is when money is forcibly taken to cover your debt. This can either be withheld from your paycheck, or it can be taken from your bank account if there is no standard paycheck to be garnished.
Here is a list of five possible reasons you got in trouble:
Child Support – When a court order is made for child support and it isn’t paid on time, the court can attach the wages of the employee. The money is generally paid directly to the court, and then the court pays the custodial parent in the form of a check.
Spousal Support – When a couple divorces marital support can be ordered. If the spouse ordered to pay fails to do this, their wages could be garnished. As with child support, the money generally goes directly to the court, and then the court issues the other spouse a check.
Student Loans – When a student loan isn’t paid back regularly, it won’t take long before it is considered as default. Usually the issuer of the loan will use all legal means to come after you.
Tax Levies – The government will do all it can to get back those unpaid taxes. This could be done for local, state or federal taxes.
Consumer Debt - The creditor got a court order issued to satisfy an unpaid debt. This might be a bank, credit card company, or other company.
Often, if you are unemployed or self-employed, there is no paycheck to garnish. In this case, the money owned may be seized from your bank account. This would remove any funds currently in the bank as well as any future ones. The account is generally frozen first, and funds aren’t actually removed until the debtor has had a chance to respond.
If you are facing a potential garnishment, it’s important to act quickly. If your bank account is garnished, it could end up taking all or most of the money in it, which could leave you unable to pay your bills.