Is it legal to garnish income from Social Secuirty benefits?
Additional information
My Mother's bank account was recently drained of all funds from a garnishment from a collection agency. Most of the money in her account was from Social Security. As far as we know (mother is 76 and in a nursing home), she was not notified of this garnishment and the first I heard of it was when the bank sent a notice. What are my mother's rights here? Can they continue to garnish money from her account (she receives only $372 a month from Social Security)? Is declaring bankruptcy her only option?
No, generally not. The US Government can do it for student loans or back taxes, or former overpayments from the Social Security Administration, and they will handle collecting back child support, but for credit cards or other private debts, Social Security can not be garnished.
