What Are the Steps to Stop Wage Garnishment Through Bankruptcy in Michigan?

How Can You Stop Creditors From Garnishing Your Wages?

When a Michigan court orders an employer to withhold a portion of someone’s earnings to pay off a debt, it’s a wage garnishment. What should you do if a creditor begins garnishing your wages in Michigan? Consult a Southfield wage garnishment attorney as quickly as possible.

If you already have an overwhelming debt obligation, a wage garnishment may be an impossible burden to bear. How do creditors garnish wages in Michigan? Who has the right to garnish your wages? What are your legal rights and options when a creditor acts to garnish your wages?

Michigan’s wage garnishment laws are extraordinarily complicated, and each person’s debt situation is unique. If a creditor takes action to garnish your wages, you must seek personalized legal advice – as quickly as possible – from an Oakland County wage garnishment lawyer.

Who Has the Right to Garnish Your Wages?

At any given time, wage garnishments target about one in every hundred workers in the United States. In 2019, more than 4.5 million workers had wages garnished for consumer debts. Michigan’s wage garnishment rate is more than 70 percent higher than the national average.

Creditors, debt purchasers, and debt collectors must win a court judgment against you before they may begin garnishing your wages in Michigan.

The federal government may garnish your wages for defaulted federal student loans and unpaid federal income taxes, but the federal government does not need a court judgment. The state may also garnish your wages without a court judgment if you owe alimony or child support payments.

How Much Can Creditors Take From Your Wages?

Under Michigan law, a creditor who wins a judgment against you may garnish the lesser of:

1. 25 percent of your disposable earnings (gross wages minus legally required deductions)
2. the amount by which your income exceeds thirty times the federal minimum wage

Different amounts may be garnished for back taxes, federal student loans, and child support. Income that is exempt from garnishment includes workers’ comp benefits, payments from IRAs, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments, and state disability assistance.

Is Your Job at Risk if a Creditor Garnishes Your Wages?

Wage garnishments are bothersome for employers, who may charge a service fee each time they garnish wages. Nevertheless, federal law protects your job during a wage garnishment up to a point.

Your employer may not discipline, retaliate against, or terminate you because a creditor is garnishing your wages. However, if more than one creditor garnishes your wages at the same time, you lose that federal legal protection, and your employer may terminate you at will.

How Can You Prevent a Creditor From Starting a Wage Garnishment?

When a creditor wins a judgment against you in Michigan, the creditor must wait 21 days to obtain a garnishment order from the court and begin the wage garnishment. During those 21 days, paying off the debt can keep that creditor from garnishing your wages.

Alternatively, you and your lawyer may negotiate with the creditor to develop a payment plan that does not involve wage garnishment. Another option is going to court to challenge the wage garnishment. In Michigan, you can halt a wage garnishment if you and your attorney can prove:

1. You do not owe the debt, or you have already paid it.
2. The court issued the wage garnishment order improperly.
3. The law exempts your income from garnishment.
4. You have filed for bankruptcy.

Should You File for Bankruptcy?

Filing for bankruptcy stops a wage garnishment immediately. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy eliminates your secured debt (debt owed to private creditors). A Chapter 13 bankruptcy lets you set up a debt consolidation plan to pay off your debts over three to five years.

The language of bankruptcy may need some explanation. Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 are chapters in Title 11 of the U.S. Code. The U.S. Code – the complete federal laws of our nation – is printed every six years. As of 2025, the U.S. Code includes 54 “titles.”

When you file for bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court issues an order – an automatic stay – that instantly takes effect. The automatic stay prevents debt collectors and creditors from garnishing your wages during the bankruptcy period, and it gives you time to put your finances in order.

What are the Consequences of Bankruptcy?

Bankruptcy is genuinely a last resort that entails some negative ramifications. A bankruptcy usually remains on your credit report for seven to ten years. You could lose most or all of your property and assets, but for some consumers in Michigan, it may be their only practical choice.

For most people, filing for bankruptcy lowers a credit score of 700 or higher by as much as 200 points. A credit score in the 680 range may drop by 150 points. However, with discipline and patience, you can quickly rebuild your finances and reestablish your credit after bankruptcy.

If you and your Southfield wage garnishment attorney determine that bankruptcy is your best option for stopping your wage garnishment and dealing responsibly with your debts, your attorney will prepare the bankruptcy paperwork and guide you through the legal process.

Let Sigal Law Firm Work for You

An Oakland County wage garnishment lawyer at Sigal Law Firm can explain the bankruptcy laws that apply to your circumstances. If there is a better option for stopping your wage garnishment and dealing with your debts, our attorneys will find that option and help you take it.

Award-winning Southfield attorney Vadim Sigal is the founder of Sigal Law Firm, and he leads our legal team. Sigal Law Firm advises and represents consumers in Oakland County and throughout the Detroit area. If a creditor is garnishing your wages, contact Sigal Law Firm promptly by calling 248-671-6794 to arrange a free legal consultation without any obligation.

We are a Debt Relief Agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the United States Bankruptcy Code. As one of the premier debt relief agencies, Sigal Law Firm is dedicated to helping individuals navigate bankruptcy and achieve financial relief.