GARNISHMENT ORDERS DON'T AUTOMATICALLY EXPIRE

Bruce Brown • February 4, 2014

Living in this modern age where computers and advance technology does almost everything automatically for us now, do not fall for the mistake of thinking that child support and spousal maintenance (alimony) garnishment orders automatically cease. Even though Court orders often have the end date when spousal maintenance (alimony) ends and child support orders contain the presumptive emancipation date when child support should end because the child turns eighteen, orders of assignment that essentially garnish these payments from your paycheck do not typically contain an end date. As such, these orders are open-ended and employers will continue to take the money out until they get a subsequent order modifying or quashing (stopping) the previous order. In addition, even if you have a very sympathetic employer who you prove that your payment obligations should end, most employers do not want to be sued or be held in contempt of Court so they will err on the side of caution and not disobey the assignment order until they get a new order modifying it or stopping it.

The lesson to be learned here is you should be aware of when your child support and spousal maintenance (alimony) is suppose to end and start taking steps about four (4) months before that to stop the wage assignment with the Court. The reason that you start a few months ahead of the end date is because your ex can question whether the order should stop, and then it will oftentimes take three or four months before a Judge can rule on your request. Thus, if you request that it stop the month that it should end, there are situations where the employ has to keep taking the money out until the Judge sorts everything out (and then, good luck dragging the overpayments out of the ex that "has already spent it").

Bruce Brown
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