If you're a resident of Georgia who owes an unpaid debt, your creditor can and may pursue a civil lawsuit against you to collect. If you lose your case, state law permits creditors to recover the amount owed by placing liens on nonexempt property, seizing money in your bank account or garnishing your wages. If you receive federal retirement or other benefits, you may be able to avoid garnishment of these funds.
Garnishment Process
Once a judgment is entered against you, your creditor must file an affidavit of garnishment with the court that issued the judgment. If the court approves the request for garnishment, the creditor must then serve you, your employer and your bank with a summons for garnishment. The state of Georgia permits creditors to garnish the lesser of 25 percent of your net income or the amount by which your net income exceeds 30 times the federal minimum wage. Under state law, creditors can pursue garnishment of your bank account in addition to or independently of wage garnishment.
Federal Benefit Exemptions
Federal law permits you to exclude certain retirement benefits from garnishment. As of 2011, these include railroad workers' retirement benefits, civil service retirement benefits, foreign service retirement benefits and retirement benefits paid to federal employees from any government agency. State law also protects benefits received from federal and state employee pension plans or individual retirement accounts. To protect your federal and/or state retirement benefits, you must file a claim of exemption with the court that issued the judgment. Under Georgia law, you must file your exemption claim within 30 days of receiving the summons for garnishment.
Other Exemptions
In addition to retirement benefits, the federal government also allows exemption for other types of income. As of 2011, Georgia residents may claim exemptions for Social Security benefits, Supplemental Security Income, veterans' benefits, federal disability benefits, student assistance, military survivors' benefits, FEMA disaster assistance, harbor workers' death and disability payments, merchant seaman's wages, longshoreman's compensation and compensation for the detainment, disability or death of an American employee working in a foreign war zone. State law also excludes worker's compensation benefits, unemployment benefits and child support or alimony payments you receive from garnishment.
Considerations
Your federal retirement benefits can be garnished if you owe federal taxes to the IRS or if you owe unpaid alimony or child support obligations. If your wages or bank account containing exempt funds is garnished and you were unaware there was a judgment against you, you may file a motion with the court to vacate the judgment entirely. If you hold a bank account jointly with a spouse or other individual, all funds in the account may be subject to garnishment. Under state law, the burden of proof for establishing which funds are not subject to garnishment lies on the non-liable account holder.
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