Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

If your bank account was garnished it means that a judgment was entered against you.

When a bank account is levied, the bank places a hold on those funds. The bank is obligated to see if the funds come from an exempt source, like Social Security. If so, it has to release the funds back to you. If not, then the funds are turned over to the court/creditor in an amount sufficient to pay the judgment.

You can file a traverse to the garnishment, but the grounds are going to be limited. If you did not know about the judgment, then I suggest that you seek a local attorney to assist you in filing the traverse.

If you knew about the judgment, it was not wise to keep that much money sitting in a bank account. That money was a prime target While you do not indicate how much the judgment was for, the bank will only turn over enough to satisfy the judgment. But if the judgment is for more than $10,000, then none of the money will be coming back if it is not exempt. In such case, I would not be putting any more funds into this bank account and I would immediately stop any direct deposits.

If this judgment is proper, then you need to consider how you wish to resolve the debt if added funds are owed. To prevent any further wage garnishment or bank levy, you might want to work on a payment arrangement with the creditor law firm. Or you might want to consider filing bankruptcy.