If you take home $450.00* per week or less, all of your earned income is exempt from debt collection. If you take home more than $450.00* per week, 90% of your gross income or 75% of your disposable income, whichever is greater, is exempt from debt collection.
"Collection-proof" is a term to describe a person who has no income or assets that can legally be seized for debt repayment. In essence, the debtor doesn't have any assets that a creditor can collect after a court requires the debtor to pay.
If a creditor has gone to court and won a judgment against you for collection of an unsecured debt, theoretically the creditor (now called a judgment creditor) will be able to take any cash in your business's bank account, your business income, and your business assets to pay off the debt.
Most of the time, pensions have the same protections from creditors or debt collectors as your Social Security benefits. However, your debt collectors could get some of your pension income through other collection activities that don't include accessing your pension directly.
In many states, some IRS-designated trust accounts may be exempt from creditor garnishment. This includes individual retirement accounts (IRAs), pension accounts and annuity accounts. Assets (including bank accounts) held in what's known as an irrevocable living trust cannot be accessed by creditors.
To get into your bank account, the creditor must get a court order. Specifically, this means that the creditor must sue you (take you to court) and win. Only after the judge enters a judgment against you (meaning the creditor won the lawsuit against you) can the creditor have access to your bank account.
To open a bank account that no creditor can touch, a person can (1) use an exempt bank account, (2) establish a bank account in a state that prohibits garnishments, (3) open an offshore bank account, or (4) maintain a wage or government benefits account.
Unless you previously paid the creditor using only cash or money orders, the creditor probably already has a record of where you bank. A creditor can merely review your past checks or bank drafts to obtain the name of your bank and serve the garnishment order.
Nonexempt assets are those that can be sold by the trustee assigned to your case by a bankruptcy court. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the proceeds from the sale of these assets are used to pay off, or partially pay off, some or all of your creditors.
Debts excluded from a debt relief order
Debts to the Child Maintenance Service. Social fund loans. Criminal fines (including debt incurred under the Proceeds of Crime Act) Claims against you for damage or personal injury. TV Licence arrears.
Retirement accounts set up under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 are generally protected from seizure by creditors. ERISA covers most employer-sponsored retirement plans, including 401(k) plans, pension plans and some 403(b) plans.
If your sole source of income is Social Security retirement income or disability benefits, the court will likely consider you judgment proof. As a result, collection agencies and creditors can't get a garnishment order against you or take money from your bank account.
Assets in an IRA and/or Roth IRA are protected from creditors up to $1,283,025. All assets held in ERISA plans are protected from creditors even after they are rolled over to an IRA. Retirement assets are not protected from an IRS levy.
One of the reasons for setting up a trust is to set aside property as separate from one's personal assets. One of the benefits of this is that assets which are held in a trust are protected from creditors, for example should the settlor become insolvent or be declared bankrupt.
If you're wondering how to protect your bank account, chances are a decision has made against you by a creditor. If a creditor obtains a judgment against you, they can garnish your bank account. That means they have obtained the right to dip into your savings and retrieve any money that's owed them.
Shell Companies
The rich sometimes hide money by opening up shell corporations that don't have their names attached. "It can be difficult for law enforcement or tax authorities to figure out who owns the corporation, so they don't know whose money it is," Zimmelman says.
The relevant information to focus on here is that California is a community property state, which means that legally married couples jointly own everything – including debt. As a result, it is possible for a creditor to garnish a spouse's bank account if their spouse owes a debt.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, debts can appear on your credit report generally for seven years and in a few cases, longer than that. Under state laws, if you are sued about a debt, and the debt is too old, you may have a defense to the lawsuit.
Learn about your rights. Creditors may be able to garnish a bank account (also referred to as levying the funds in a bank account) that you own jointly with someone else who is not your spouse. A creditor can take money from your joint savings or checking account even if you don't owe the debt.
Generally no, debt collectors can't take your Social Security or VA benefits directly out of your bank account or prepaid card. After a debt collector sues you for the debt and wins a judgment, it can get a court order for your bank or credit union to turn over money from your account or prepaid card.