When a debtor is delinquent in his payments on a debt, the creditor may take a number of actions to get the money owed him. One of the most severe actions that a creditor can take is to garnish a person's wages. When wages are garnished, a debtor's employer will hand over a portion of the person's paycheck to the creditor until the debt has been repaid. Receiving food stamps does not always protect a person from wage garnishment.
Wage Garnishment
To secure a garnishment, a creditor must petition a judge to allow the debtor's wages to be seized. By federal law, a creditor cannot garnish wages until he has received a court order. If a judge does issue a court order, the creditor will then present the order to the debtor's employer, who is legally obligated to comply with the court's ruling. A person holding a low-income job is often still eligible for food stamps.
Food Stamps
Monthly benefits issued under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known colloquially as "food stamps," are coupons or a debit card that entitle the recipient to purchase food from participating retailers. The recipient must have little or no income to receive stamps. By federal law, creditors cannot garnish food stamps from a recipient, and the person receiving food stamps is not allowed to exchange the food stamps for money. However, receiving food stamps does not generally exempt a person from the garnishment of any other wages he earns.
State Laws
Although food stamps are a federal program, the program is administered differently by different states. Also, many laws regarding wage garnishment are made at the state level. For this reason, different states have different laws regarding who can have their wages garnished and in what amount. Unless the debtor owes money to the federal government, up to 75 percent of a person's wages are protected from garnishment by creditors. The federal government is allowed to garnish more.
Exemptions
While most states do not directly prohibit creditors from garnishing the wages of people on food stamps, some have laws that protect people with little income from wage garnishment. The only state with a law that specifically protects people on food stamps from wage garnishment is Wisconsin. According to Wisconsin state law, as of 2010 any person who has received food stamps in the previous six months cannot have their wages garnished by creditors other than the federal government.
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