The process of wage garnishment can be very upsetting for individuals. Wages can be garnished when a creditor does not receive payment from an individual and receives an order of garnishment from a court. As a result of wage garnishment, money is directly transferred from a person’s paycheck to the creditor, which can result in significant financial obstacles. Some individuals decide to file Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcies in an effort to prevent wage garnishment. After filing for bankruptcy, an automatic stay is placed that ends collection activity from a creditor. Provided that certain conditions are satisfied, individuals are often able to receive some of the wages that were garnished before a bankruptcy petition was filed. If an individual is over $600 in aggregate wages garnished and has a sufficient amount of exemptions to cover these debts, individuals can often successfully request a creditor to return garnished wages.   The Role of Automatic Stays   An automatic stay results in wage garnishment being stopped so long as a bankruptcy stay remains in effect. If a creditor wants to resume debt collection efforts, the creditor must ask the court to lift the bankruptcy stay. A court will require the creditor [...]