So you filed a bankruptcy and received your discharge and do not want to ever have your wages garnished again; this article is to help you avoid that situation for ever.

First you need to congratulate yourself; you have made it through the hurdle of completing your bankruptcy and receiving your discharge! You now have your fresh start and the goal is to never fall back into the patterns or events that lead to your financial situation that caused the filing of your bankruptcy.

If you were having your wages garnished it is likely due to child support arrears, IRS debt, student loan debt, or a judgment. Now that you have received your discharge all of these debts should be resolved. If at the time of filing you had child support arrears, IRS debt, or student loan debt, you more than likely filed a chapter 13 to reorganize that debt and bring yourself current. After you received your discharge you are current with that debt and nothing is owed, so now there is no reason for the garnishment.

In order to avoid being garnished again in the future the number one thing you can do is:

Do not ignore debt when it is owed. Specifically with child support and IRS debt a garnishment is not going to go into place until at least 6 to 9 months have passed. The lesson you need to carry with you in the future is that you are able to deal with debt in a productive manner by not allowing deadlines to be missed. Therefore, the first time you receive a bill from a creditor and cannot pay it, you need to call and speak with the creditor. Most of the time flexibility and payment plans can be arranged if you communicate with the creditor well before the due date; however, if you let the due date pass and do nothing, the debt will go into collections and the creditor will be less likely to work with you.

If you find yourself in a situation where you are afraid of a future garnishment you do have the ability to file another bankruptcy to stop the garnishment from going into effect and using a chapter 13 to reorganize the debt and pay it back at an affordable payment. This is true even if you received your discharge in a prior bankruptcy. You can file a second bankruptcy the day after you have received a discharge in a previous bankruptcy, the difference is you cannot file a chapter 7 because you are not eligible for debt forgiveness but you could file a chapter 13 to reorganize what you owe in a manageable way. For more information on what a chapter 13 can do for you, visit our website at www.herrinandwright.com or call to schedule an appointment with one of our Dallas bankruptcy attorneys.