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Credit Card or Child Support

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  • 04-30-2009, 08:21 AM
    singlemomiowa
    Credit Card or Child Support
    My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: Iowa

    My ex is currently being garnished for unpaid credit card debt. I just received notice that a child support order has finally been set, but does his credit card debt take precedence or will my child's support be paid before the credit cards?
  • 04-30-2009, 07:11 PM
    AZExPat
    Re: Credit Card or Child Support
    I'm still going through this from the other side of the fence here in AZ, but a quick check shows that IA law, like AZ law defer to Federal law on this matter, so here's what I've found so far.

    Federal law, in the form of UNITED STATES CODE: TITLE 15, CHAPTER 41, SUBCHAPTER II § 1673. provides for a restriction on garnishment of wages. You can see an excerpt at http://www.bcsalliance.com/ccpa_15usc1673.html but here's the synopsis:

    Garnishment may be up to 25% of the disposable income of the debtor. Disposable income is what is left of the wages after government deductions (taxes, social security, etc) but before voluntary deductions (retirement plans, insurance, etc).

    An allowance is made for certain exceptions, one of which is child support. If, and only if, child support is court ordered then the garnishment may only attach to a maximum of 50% of the disposable earnings. If there is a garnishment in place for child support, then that garnishment takes precedence over any other garnishment, regardless of the dates on which they were entered.

    Here comes the good bit ... if you get a garnishment in place for the child support and that amount equates to or exceeds 25% of the disposable income, then the other garnishment gets nothing. Under AZ statutes, and IA is probably the same, if they get 0 as payments for a 60 day period then the garnishment itself becomes void and without effect.

    This will benefit your ex in that they then cannot collect from him at all, until such time as the supported child reaches majority age, at which point the debt may well be past the statute of limitations for collection purposes - this is worth looking into as it will help you both out.

    Sorry if this is a bit long winded, as I said, I'm currently tackling the same problem myself, my problem being that my ex-wife lives in another country and there is no court ordered child support, just a verbal agreement! For that reason, I've been reading through this stuff for weeks, but hope that this is of some help to you.
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