I am going to receive wage garnishment

I am 21 and have a wife who has medical problems, and a baby that will be here in 2 weeks... My taxes were garnished (1200.00) for a defaulted student loan that i took out in 1996, i was 17 years old at the time... I clear 1000.00 a month, and my wife cant work, or she would help me with the bills.. i owe 1800.00 for the student loan, and they said that they had not recieved the sum, so now insted of garnishing 600.00 for the balance, they are still trying to collect on the origional 1800.00, can they garnish my wages when i make less than a gas station attendant ? and is my signature for a loan legally binding when im only 17...... i appreciate your time

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mojo2378:
I am 21 and have a wife who has medical problems, and a baby that will be here in 2 weeks... My taxes were garnished (1200.00) for a defaulted student loan that i took out in 1996, i was 17 years old at the time... I clear 1000.00 a month, and my wife cant work, or she would help me with the bills.. i owe 1800.00 for the student loan, and they said that they had not recieved the sum, so now insted of garnishing 600.00 for the balance, they are still trying to collect on the origional 1800.00, can they garnish my wages when i make less than a gas station attendant ? and is my signature for a loan legally binding when im only 17...... i appreciate your time <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Garnishment laws vary widely from state to state. Go to your local law library and ask for the garnishment codes. Read carefully! The code will tell you if the DoEd can garnish immediately or if they have to get a judgment against you first. It will also tell you how to object to and fight a garnishment. The amount that can be garnished depends on state law.

Chances are, they can garnish your wages if the debt is valid. Whether it's valid depends on what the legal age to contract is in the state where you signed the loan agreement. They cannot garnish for amounts already collected -- doing so opens them up to a wrongful garnishment action. Notify the IRS that you dispute the garnishment of your taxes and request a hearing on its validity. Also, nootify the DoEd that you dispute the vaildity of the loan because you were underage and no contract you signed then could be legally binding.

To garnish your wages, they need a court order. You can object to the garnishment and argue in court that the debt was not valid because you were an infant (legally) when it was incurred.