If you have had wages garnished by a creditor, you certainly might be interested in ways to get some of all of that money back so you can spend it.
Filing a bankruptcy case may do the trick, due to a technical portion of the Bankruptcy Code that deals with “preferences.” That, in turn, is bankruptcy court lingo for creditors who have received more than their share of payments right before a bankruptcy case is filed in court.
From the wage earner’s perspective, this means that you have a fighting chance to get back all of the garnished wages for ninety (that’s 90) days before you filed a bankruptcy case.
But what if the 90th day was one of your paydays?
According to bankruptcy code section 547 (b) (4) (A), you can get back wages attached or garnished “on or within 90 days before the filing of the petition.”
When counting backwards you don’t include the day you filed the case, but start counting at the day before. All weekends and holidays do have to be counted, however, according to bankruptcy rule 9006.
A couple of exceptions: this won’t work for attachments covering child support obligations, and it may or may not work for attachments for income tax arrears, depending on your particular circumstances.
by Doug Beaton