George Simons | December 01, 2022
Summary: Got a debt collector threatening to garnish your Social Security Disability? Find out if they can even do that and how to stop them.
If your primary source of income is Social Security disability benefits, you may be worried, and rightfully so, about any outstanding debts that you may have. You may be concerned about earning a living while you are physically incapacitated if your Social Security disability benefits are garnished to pay off your debts.
The question is, can your creditor use a court order to garnish your Social Security disability benefits to settle your debts? To answer your question, you will need to understand the law and your rights before making the best plan to manage your debts. This article will do just that.
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The Federal Social Security Administration gives out financial benefits called Social Security benefits to eligible American citizens based on their inability to earn income to sustain themselves and their families due to disabilities or retirement.
There are three forms of Social Securities. They include:
The federal government makes these payments to beneficiaries directly into their bank accounts or a government-issued credit card.
Legally speaking, any person who takes out a loan or credit is obligated to pay them back as per the terms of the lending agreement. If the person fails to pay the loans, the creditors may sue them to recover their money.
A ruling in favor of the creditors may result in either of the following judgments:
There are some cases where neither of these two judgments applies in a case. In that case, the court may render the debtor as being judgment proof.
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When a court cannot pass a garnishment or bank account levies on your case, then you are judgment proof. This situation only occurs if the court is convinced of the following:
The creditors, or collection agencies working on their behalf, will not have a garnishment order or a bank account levies if the debtor's situation is as described above.
Sometimes, people put together their federal government's Social Security benefits with other private retirement benefits. When that happens, the court may order that some portion of their income be directed towards paying off their debt.
It is always a good idea to separate your entitlements, alimonies, and other retirement benefits from the Social Security Benefits to avoid such situations.
One misconception about being judgment proof is that you will no longer be required to pay your debts. This is not true; in fact, you should be concerned about your credit report and credit scores.
A judgment proof ruling only informs the creditors that you do not have sufficient assets and income to pay off the debt, and it may be pointless to pursue you in court. However, being judgment proof does not stop creditors from making persistent calls, emails, letters, and other debt collection tactics to make you pay them.
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There are exceptions to being deemed “judgment proof.” Essentially, the state and federal governments may garnish your Social Security benefits if you owe them without needing a court order to do so. The following agencies can garnish your Social Security benefits:
The IRS can collect a portion of your monthly entitlement to settle your outstanding taxes without a court order. The IRS must inform you, in writing, about their plan to collect their money from your Social Security benefits before doing so.
Federal Student Loans Servicers may also take a portion of your social security benefits to pay for the student loans without needing a court order. If you are a co-signer to a student loan beneficiary, this may also happen to you if the student fails to pay off their student loans. In most cases, older people bear the burden of paying out student loans for young borrowers who fail to pay back their student loans.
If you ever received too much money for your Social Security benefits from the federal government, they may garnish your benefits to recover their money back. This option is very common with the Social Security Income beneficiaries.
Persons eligible for disability benefits may apply for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy code relieves you from any outstanding debts you may have, including credit card debts, medical debts, and any debts not tied to a property. This filing is usually processed within 90 days after approval.
Remember to separate your Social Security benefits from your other benefits accounts so that you do not complicate your case. The complication arises because the disability income, such as the Social Security benefits, are regarded as bankruptcy exemptions as long as they are not mixed with other incomes.
Filing for bankruptcy might be the best solution for debt management if you entirely rely on Social Security benefits as your source of income.
In a nutshell, a creditor cannot secure a court order to garnish or put bank levies on your social security benefits if it is your only source of income.
Only the federal or state governments can garnish your Social security benefits without needing a court order if you owe taxes, student loans or if your account was mistakenly overpaid. Generally, Social Security disability beneficiaries are judgment proof.
SoloSuit makes it easy to respond to a debt collection lawsuit.
How it works: SoloSuit is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your answer. Upon completion, you can either print the completed forms and mail in the hard copies to the courts or you can pay SoloSuit to file it for you and to have an attorney review the document.
"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James
>>Read the NPR story on SoloSuit: A Student Solution To Give Utah Debtors A Fighting Chance
Here's a list of guides for other states.
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