Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Wisconsin

Even if you are currently unemployed, by taking a legal judgment against you, the collectors will be able to immediately garnishee 25% of your net wages if you are called back to work, so they may be continuing to pursue to improve their future prospects of collection, even if it may be impossible to collect from you now. By getting a judgment, they also obtain a lien against any real estate which you might inherit or come to own within the next ten years or more in any county where the judgment is docketed. They occasionally also attempt to go after unemployment and disability payments (or against the bank accounts where you may have placed such funds). They can also force you to provide detailed financial statements of assets under oath, or ask financial questions at a deposition type proceeding known as a supplemental proceeding, which may give them secured status on any nonexempt assets discovered. Failure to cooperate with these asset discovery procedures can actually lead to an arrest warrant against you under a theory that you are in contempt of court for not cooperating, and the amount of the bond to be released after arrest is likely to be the same as the amount of the judgment against you. A your prospects for re-employment improve, you may therefore wish to consider a pre-emptive bankruptcy filing in order to prevent wage garnishments against your new employer (who will be less than pleased to be forced to deal with this mountain of paperwork immediately after you start work). Bankruptcies are complex proceedings which take time to prepare, even with no assets, so you would therefore be wise to get ahead of the need and consult with an experienced bankruptcy lawyer. Just like the collectors are now doing, you therefore might wish to also improve your prospects of future prospects of protection by commencing this process now, or at least introducing yourself and situation to a local lawyer. Please do not assume that I am your lawyer simply due to answering this question; you will need to make arrangements to retain any of the responding lawyers here before they would actually become your lawyer. You are welcome to call my office at 262-633-3090 for clarifications. http://www.lawguru.com/answers/atty_profile/view_attorney_profile/jknixon