People often incur debts when they are unemployed and receiving less income than normally. If a person owes money to a creditor and repeatedly fails to pay back this debt, the creditor may take him to court. If the creditor wins a lawsuit, then he will be able to receive a civil judgment declaring he is legally owed the debt. He may try to collect this money through wage garnishment, but will probably not be able to garnish the debtor's unemployment benefits.
Garnishment
A person can be the object of a garnishment order is he owes a debt to a creditor. However, this order must first be issued by a judge. To get this order, the creditor must win a lawsuit he files against the debtor. No garnishment orders can be served that have not been issued by a judge. However, judges will not grant garnishment orders to seize certain kinds of income.
Unemployment Benefits
Unemployment benefits are a state benefit issued to those who have recently become unemployed. These benefits are supposed to help the person meet his bills while he looks for work. Like most state benefits, unemployment benefits are not able to be seized by private creditors. However, they may be available to state governments to whom the debtor owes money, such as for child support.
State Debts
A person may come to owe the state money in a number of situations. For example, the person may owe the state money for unpaid taxes or for child support. In such an instance, the state will be allowed to collect the money in ways unavailable to private creditors. If the state chooses to garnish the person's unemployment benefits, it will do so by serving an order on the state's department of labor.
Considerations
Not all people can be subject to garnishments. Often, particularly if the person does not have a large amount of income, the judge will not grant the garnishment. Some states explicitly forbid people who make under a certain amount of money from having income garnished. A person who receives unemployment benefits may well fall into this category, as they represent only a fraction of his normal salary.
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