Wage garnishments can take away vital income that you need to support your family. Because garnishments can last for weeks or months, this legal action taken by your creditors could make your current financial situation worse and also ruin your credit.

However, the state and federal government does provide several options to debtors to escape being garnished. You may use one of these methods to salvage your income and keep needed money in your household budget.

1) Quit Your Job

Of course, when you learn that your creditors have won a garnishment order against you, you always have the option of quitting your job. Unless you have a significant amount of money in your bank account or access to non-garnishable income like Social Security, alimony, or child support, this option likely would be ill advised.

Further, if you think that quitting your job and simply finding another one will resolve the situation, you may be surprised to find that the garnishment order will follow you to your new job as well. As such, while quitting your job is certainly a legal option, you may do well to consider other recourse alternatives.

2) Set up a Repayment Plan

If you suspect that your creditors may push for a garnishment order of your paycheck, you can avoid this action by contacting your creditors and setting up a repayment plan on your own terms. Most creditors welcome such arrangements and are willing to work with you if you demonstrate a genuine desire to pay off your debt without being garnished.

To set up a repayment plan, most creditors ask that you commit to a certain dollar amount to be paid on a regular interval. You could have payments come out automatically from your bank account every week, every two weeks or every month, depending on your financial limitations.

3) File for an Exemption

If you are unable to set up a repayment plan prior to the garnishment order being issued, you could petition the court for an exemption if you meet certain criteria. When you ask the court for an exemption, the judge will consider factors like:

• Your household income
• Your family size, particularly the number of dependent children you support
• Your rent amount, utilities and other financial obligations that you pay each month

Any other extenuating circumstances like a disability or reasons for your financial hardship.

If the judge finds in your favor, the exemption order will lower the amount that your creditors may take from your paycheck or possibly even stop the garnishment order altogether.

4) Contest the Order in Court

You also could go to civil court and contest the order before the judge. When you contest the order, you have the chance to tell why you should not have to repay the debt or even if the debt truly belongs to you.

Contesting the order could be an option if you are recently divorced, for example, and being sued for a debt incurred by your former spouse. The court may decide that this debt does not belong to you and that you have no legal responsibility to repay it.

5) File for Bankruptcy

You may be able to escape the garnishment order permanently by filing for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy safeguards your income while the case is pending in court, preventing creditors from collecting on the debt owed to them.

After the judge discharges your bankruptcy, you will no longer owe any money to these entities. However, bankruptcy will not dismiss debts like:

• Federal or state tax obligations
• Delinquent child support
• Student loan debt
• Owed alimony

If you owe money to credit card companies, auto loan financiers, hospitals or doctors' offices, or other companies that could legally ask for a garnishment, you may protect your income and your assets by filing for bankruptcy.

Wage garnishments can leave you without the income you need to take care of your household and your family. You can prevent this action by your creditors by utilizing one of these legal options.