judgement

[kttrumbo]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio .. My husband has a judgement against him from 2 years ago for some carpentry work he did,for 11,000$. Since that time he has not had any employment,we lost our house to foreclosure and I(his wife) am the only one employed in the home.I also have a 13 yr old daughter in the home to support . The judgement was against him only and company name(even though the company name was wrong on the judgement all along) and not mine. Since then the other party has declared chapter 7 bankruptcy and their trustee is trying to get another judgement against him. My question is how can they get another judgement when their already is one? We answered the complaint telling them he has no assets(we rent now),no employment and no benefits of any kind.What can happen? I was told my income cant be touched since my name was never on the complaint. What about our income tax since I file married,joint but show him as unemployed? Thanks for any advice.

 

[swalsh411]

They can't intercept your refund if that is what you are asking. Have the income tax refund go into an account that only has your name on it.

 

[kttrumbo]

Thanks for the info.But what about getting another judgement when there already is one?

 

[justalayman]

They can't intercept your refund if that is what you are asking. Have the income tax refund go into an account that only has your name on it.

is there some reason you believe they can't intercept the refund?


to a second judgment: You say the trustee is attempting to get a judgment. I suspect this is something internal to the bankruptcy. I cannot explain well enough to make sense it but I believe it is proper.

 

[LdiJ]

Thanks for the info.But what about getting another judgement when there already is one?

That doesn't make any sense to me at all. However, its not going to make any difference for your husband anyway.

 

[kttrumbo]

judgment

Not make a difference,how? Do you mean it will still be the same judgment and the same laws apply?

 

[KakitaOCU]

I'm kind of curious on the not being able to intercept as well. I knew a married couple who filed and got their entire return yanked because one of the two of them had outstanding student loans. Maybe that's just for federal funding?

 

[TigerD]

Federal tax returns can only be garnished for federal debt and child support. State tax returns can usually only be garnished for state debt and child support.

The OP most likely isn't being sued again. I'll bet they have an asset exam, which means the judgment holder is haling into court, putting them under oath and making them say where all the debtors money is and where it went.

The spouse can be haled into court and forced to tell what she knows about her husband's assets and location.

As a side note, I have not yet studied this but: If you deposit the joint tax return into the non-debtor spouse's account, can that be used to levy the account for the debt? If there is a senior member who knows offhand of case law on it, I've love the reference. I'm not interested enough to research it on New Year's Eve.

DC

 

[swalsh411]

is there some reason you believe they can't intercept the refund?

Yes there is a very good reason I believe that.

 

[kttrumbo]

Now my husband got a letter in the mail for an order scheduling a motion for a default hearing. It says it is ordered that the scheduled hearing before the bankruptcy court is set for Tues jan 24. Nowhere on the letter does it say he has to attend,BUT it says at the bottom of the letter that ALL MOTIONS FOR CONTINUANCE OR REQUESTS FOR NON-APPEARANCE IN THE ABOVE CAPTIONED HEARING ARE TO BE MADE DIRECTLY TO THE COURT.ONLY THE COURT MAY GRANT OR DENY SUCH A MOTION.So what does this mean? Does he have to attend or not? The letter was not a summons,but an ORDER FOR THE DEFAULT HEARING?????

 

[TigerD]

You need an attorney. Yesterday.

DC

 

[FrustratedMom72]

Legal Aid

Sounds like you need an attorney. I'm not sure where you live, but being that only you are working, and you have no assets, you should qualify for legal aid. Google legal aid in the county you live in and contact them ASAP.

 

[FrustratedMom72]

No direct deposit

And btw, you cannot direct deposit your joint tax return into an account bearing only your name. You would have to manually deposit the check into the account. What they can garnish is up to whatever the judge signed off on on the judgement, who the money is owed to has no bearing on whether or not it can be intercepted, it's all about the court order (the judgement is a court order). If the judgement paperwork says your income tax refund can be intercepted, then it can be intercepted, doesn't matter if your husband works or not, or if he earned any of the money in the return. I highly recommend you obtain an attorney.

 

[kttrumbo]

So what if we or he files bankruptcy. That would get rid of the judgement wouldnt it? And I have one person telling me that the tax return cant be intercepted and one saying it cant.The judgement was against my husband only. never had my name on it from the beginning.

 

[LdiJ]

Federal tax returns can only be garnished for federal debt and child support. State tax returns can usually only be garnished for state debt and child support.

The OP most likely isn't being sued again. I'll bet they have an asset exam, which means the judgment holder is haling into court, putting them under oath and making them say where all the debtors money is and where it went.

The spouse can be haled into court and forced to tell what she knows about her husband's assets and location.

As a side note, I have not yet studied this but: If you deposit the joint tax return into the non-debtor spouse's account, can that be used to levy the account for the debt? If there is a senior member who knows offhand of case law on it, I've love the reference. I'm not interested enough to research it on New Year's Eve.

DC

Slight correction...federal tax returns can be garnished for federal AND state government debt, as well as child support arrearages.

And btw, you cannot direct deposit your joint tax return into an account bearing only your name. You would have to manually deposit the check into the account. What they can garnish is up to whatever the judge signed off on on the judgement, who the money is owed to has no bearing on whether or not it can be intercepted, it's all about the court order (the judgement is a court order). If the judgement paperwork says your income tax refund can be intercepted, then it can be intercepted, doesn't matter if your husband works or not, or if he earned any of the money in the return. I highly recommend you obtain an attorney.

This is also incorrect. A bank account does not have to have both names on it in order for a direct deposit to be made. However, some banks, if the person holding the account is not the primary taxpayer on the tax return, the bank will reject the direct deposit because the social's don't match up....other banks will not reject it.

Therefore if only one spouse has the bank account its safest to make that spouse first on the tax return.