Responses to our Member's Question

To remind our readers, the question from our Member was:

Is an "Affidavit for Wage Deduction Order" the same as a "Wage Deduction Order"? Is the debtor's employer allowed to garnish his wages prior to the return date specified? If not, I assume we can demand the employer to return the monies garnished back to the Debtor.

Our Members responded:

The employer withholds the wages and then files the affidavit with the court. Accordingly, employee cannot demand that employer return the return of the garnished wages without a court order so directing.

John Houlihan

==================

The employer is required to make the deductions pursuant to the served WDO. The employer holds the funds until a judgment is entered on the WDO. When the employer is notifed of the BK filing, withholding must stop, but employer must hold any funds already deducted. When the Ch 7 is filed the state court must be notified. Then the WDO is STAYED, not quashed. It takes an order from the BK court to have any funds held by the employer remitted the BK estate. That is how I think it should be done.

James B. Cavenagh

Thank you to all who took part in this exchange. Q&A like this is one of the seminal justifications for committees like ours, and is part of being a member of our community. I appreciate everyone's willingness to help out.

Feel free to submit any other questions, comments or items for consideration by the Committee by e-mail to me at mhedayat@mha-law.com or via the DCBA Bankruptcy listserve at bankruptcylawls@dcba.org.