Is Bankruptcy Right For You?

While there is an unfortunate negative stigma surrounding bankruptcy, it’s important to know that many people in trying financial situations could greatly benefit from the process. For instance, if you’re currently dealing with wage garnishments, bankruptcy could help you.

What Is Wage Garnishment?

When you have outstanding debts, your employer can be court-ordered to withhold a certain percentage of your earnings to pay back creditors. This won’t happen without a formal hearing first where the creditor sues the loanee and wins the case. At that point, wage garnishment begins and can continue until the debt is entirely repaid.

How Does Bankruptcy Provide A Solution?

While the entire bankruptcy process is much more involved, it’s important to know that the most direct way bankruptcy can assist you with wage garnishment is what’s known as an automatic stay of debt collection.

Simply put, this means that after you’ve successfully filed bankruptcy, debt collection efforts stop entirely. The only way they’d resume is if you fail to meet the terms of your bankruptcy case. Now, this does not mean that these debts are immediately eliminated. Instead, you’ll be tasked with meeting the terms of your bankruptcy case.

For Chapter 7, nonexempt property is seized and distributed between creditors to resolve debts. For Chapter 13, your nonexempt property is protected on the stipulation that you adhere to a court-ordered payment plan. For Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the process takes about four to six months, where Chapter 13 takes between three and five years.

That said, bankruptcy can give you a way out of debt, a chance to catch your breath, and hope for the future by removing the stress and burden of debt collector harassment and give you a responsible solution to fix your financial situation.

At The Cook Law Firm, we’re dedicated to providing the people of Louisiana with the best bankruptcy attorneys not just in the state, but the entire nation. Contact us today to get help ending wage garnishment.

We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.