Let’s say that you are older and have retired, that you have some sort of disability that hampers your work, or that a work injury has made it impossible for you to work for a period of time. In any of these scenarios, the individual could receive Social Security payments, may they be supplemental income payments or disability payments or other income from a pool that you have paid into over many years.
Here’s the question: given this income, can debt collectors come after it to help clear old debts that are attributed to your name?
If only we could give you a definitive answer to that question. The fact is that every situation is different. Every debt is different. Every recipient of Social Security is different. Even the types of Social Security, as we talked about above, are different. Given the myriad factors that can play into a situation where a debt collector tries to take your Social Security for past debts, it behooves the targeted individual to connect with an experienced bankruptcy attorney to help them through this confusing and difficult time.
With an attorney by your side, you could learn that a bankruptcy filing is your best course of action. Or you may go into your debt situation thinking that bankruptcy is the best decision — but then your attorney informs you that another form of debt settlement or debt restructuring is actually better for you. Your attorney can also protect you from unlawful, reckless or negligent debt collecting practices.
Source: Credit.com, “Can a Debt Collector Come After My Social Security?,” Gerri Detweiler, May 23, 2014