Can Social Security Disability Income Be Garnished for Payment of a Judgment?

When you cannot afford to make debt payments, your creditors may eventually try to get a judgment against you and garnish your wages. If the only money that you bring in is from Social Security disability, your creditors will not be able to collect the judgment through this approach as your income is protected.

Getting a Garnishment

When a creditor wants to try to garnish your income, it does not have the authority to simply take your income without the approval of the court. To get the approval of the court, the creditor has to file a civil lawsuit against you. Once the lawsuit is filed, the creditor has to present evidence that you actually owe the debt. Then the court will issue a judgment for the creditor. After the judgment is issued, the creditor has to get a writ of execution to enforce the judgment.

Exempt Income

Although creditor could file a civil lawsuit against you and get a garnishment order from the court, it does not necessarily mean that the creditor has the right to take any of your income. Certain types of income are exempt from which garnishment. This includes Social Security benefits, Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Income payments. If you receive any of these types of income, your creditors cannot touch them with a garnishment order.

Exceptions

Although the majority of debts cannot be taken out of your pay if you only receive Social Security Disability Income, there are a few exceptions to the rule. For example, if you owe back child support or spousal support, the court could order that a garnishment be set up to come out of your Social Security disability benefits. In this case, the amount of the garnishment will be determined by the laws of your state and the decision of the court.

Notification

When you have Social Security income, it is not automatically protected from creditors. In some cases, creditors may try to take this income from your bank account. When you have income that is classified as exempt, you must notify the court or your local sheriff. Typically, this consists of filling out a document that states your income is exempt from creditors claims. At that point, the court will order the creditors to stop garnishing your exempt income.