After a court judgment is entered against you in Florida, there are two main types of garnishments that can be obtained against you: wage garnishments and bank account garnishments. Unfortunately, in many circumstances, these garnishments can occur without any prior warning to you. Both types of garnishments seek to forcibly take money from you to pay all or a portion of the outstanding judgment. Most people don’t know that Florida has strong anti-garnishment laws and that people subjected to garnishment may have rights to stop or lift the garnishment and get their money returned to them. Garnishments can be resolved in one of two ways. One way is to file what is called a “Claim of Exemption”. Florida has several types of exemptions that may apply to you which will allow you to stop or lift the garnishment and get your money back. The second way is to file bankruptcy. Some bankruptcy lawyers will try to pressure you to file bankruptcy when that is not always the best option. We can help identify possible exemptions that may be available to you which may allow you to avoid filing for bankruptcy and get garnished funds returned to you.
The experienced attorneys at Militzok & Associates can help analyze your financial situation to determine which garnishment exemptions are applicable to you. You may be able to lift a wage garnishment if you are head of your household, and a bank account garnishment if you have a joint bank account, the garnished account contains wages you earned from employment, or if the garnished amount was below $5,000. In addition, certain types of money are also exempt from being garnished including, but not limited to, social security payments, disability payments, pension or retirement payments, life insurance proceeds, annuity payments or monies received from employment.
Finally, law firms that process garnishments are required to follow very specific legal rules and are required to notify you of your rights under the garnishment laws. Militzok & Associates handles cases against law firms who fail to follow this rules which may entitle you to additional compensation. Contact us today for a free consultation.
