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[cuartio52]

Hi there. Someone owes me a lot of money and I need to take her to small claims court to get it back. But she can never seem to hold a job for more than one or two paycheques. Last I heard she planned to just apply for welfare and live off that. If I get a judgement against her can that income be garnished? This is the only way I'd have of getting that money back... And if she does get a job is the garnishing process automatic or do I need to basically stalk her and report her jobs as she gets them to the courts?

[fyfe]

garnishments arent done through you as a person, they would be done through the courts. I do not think you can garnish welfare. But what would happen is if y outake it to court the judge can order her an amount to pay to you. If she doesnt pay this amount in the alloted time swet by the judge she could have a warrent set out for her arresst for violating judgment.

[croslea]

Government assistance is not a wage.

[ryscford]

Sorry, but welfare, child support, alimony, disability payments, pensions, and social security income are exempt from garnishment for private and consumer debt.

Nothing is automatic when it comes to collecting on a judgment. You need to go back to court and get a writ of garnishment that has to be forwarded to her employer. You would need to that every time she changes jobs.

Winning a judgment is the easy part; collecting on that judgment is the real challenge.

[syvwkh]

You can take her to court only IF you can prove that she owes you this money. If you can't, you'll be wasting more money bringing a court case. Before you take any action, you need to make sure that you can prove what you say.
Don't start stalking people. That's not only sick, it's illegal and will land YOU in trouble!

[ashly]

Welfare cannot be garnished.