Are you looking for a wage garnishment lawyer in Austin?
At Leinart Law Firm, we are trusted wage garnishment lawyers with over 15 years of experience.
If money is being withheld from your paycheck or your bank account has been frozen, an Austin, TX wage garnishment lawyer can determine whether the creditor is entitled to take it. Texas protects wages more strongly than nearly every other state, and many garnishment attempts do not survive scrutiny.
Marcus Leinart founded this firm in 2005, and our attorneys have spent more than 15 years on consumer debt and collection matters throughout Texas.
Contact us for a consultation and we will review the order that was served.
Wage Garnishment Lawyer Austin, TX
A wage garnishment lawyer determines whether a creditor has the legal authority to reach your income, and then stops the collection where it does not. Texas exempts current wages for personal services from garnishment, so an ordinary creditor holding a judgment for a credit card balance, a medical bill, or a personal loan cannot direct your employer to withhold anything. The exceptions are narrow and specific, covering court-ordered child support, spousal maintenance, and certain federal obligations.
Those excepted debts are frequently what brings clients to a repayment plan. Of the bankruptcy cases filed in the Western District of Texas, which covers Austin and Travis County, during the 12 months ending December 31, 2025, 2,602 were Chapter 13 cases, the chapter that allows support arrears and tax debt to be repaid over time rather than collected all at once.
Types of Wage Garnishment Cases We Handle in Austin
Garnishment in Texas almost always traces back to one of a handful of obligations, and identifying which one you are facing determines what can be done about it. The matters below are the ones we handle for clients across the Austin area.
- Child support withholding. Court-ordered support is collected directly from wages, and the order continues until the obligation and any arrears are satisfied. Modifying the underlying order is a family law matter, though the arrears themselves can often be addressed through a repayment plan.
- Spousal maintenance. Court-ordered maintenance reaches wages on the same basis as child support. Arrears accumulate quickly where an obligor has fallen behind, and the resulting withholding can leave very little to live on.
- Federal student loan garnishment. The federal government may garnish wages for a defaulted loan without first obtaining a court judgment, which surprises borrowers who expect to be sued. Administrative remedies exist and are worth pursuing before the withholding begins.
- Tax levies. Federal and state tax authorities collect through wage withholding under their own authority rather than through the courts. The notice requirements that precede a levy create opportunities to respond that are frequently missed.
- Bank account freezes. Once wages are deposited they stop being current wages, and a judgment creditor can freeze or levy the account. Exempt funds in the account can be claimed and released, but doing so requires prompt action.
- Credit card debt. Card issuers and debt buyers cannot garnish wages in Texas regardless of the size of the balance or the existence of a judgment. Collectors nonetheless threaten it, and a threat to take action that is not legally available is itself a problem.
- Judgment liens. A creditor unable to reach your paycheck may record a lien against property instead. Whether the lien attaches at all depends on what the property is and whether it is exempt.
- Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Filing halts collection immediately, including bank levies and the lawsuits that produce judgments. The underlying support and tax obligations generally survive, while the consumer debt behind most collection pressure does not.
- Out-of-state judgments. A creditor holding a judgment from another state sometimes attempts to enforce it against Texas wages, or serves the order where an employer is located elsewhere. These situations turn on which state’s law governs the withholding.
Why Choose Leinart Law Firm as my Wage Garnishment Lawyer in Austin, TX?
Fifteen Years of Collection Defense
Marcus Leinart has been licensed in Texas since 1995 and opened this firm in 2005. He belongs to the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, or NACBA, and has built a practice representing individuals against creditors rather than the other way around. Clients facing broader debt problems can also consult our bankruptcy lawyer in Austin, TX regarding the options available to them.
A Record in Consumer Debt Work
Collectors rely on borrowers not knowing what the law permits. A firm that handles these matters continually recognizes when an order is proper and when a creditor is reaching beyond its authority.
- Thousands of bankruptcy and debt matters handled for Texas consumers since 2005
- More than 15 years focused on bankruptcy, debt relief, and collection defense
- A practice limited to one area of law rather than spread across unrelated fields
- Client feedback from matters carried through to resolution
Understanding Wage Garnishment Cases
What Texas Allows and What It Prohibits
Texas wage protection is among the strongest in the country, and the boundaries of that protection are worth understanding precisely.
- Current wages for personal services are exempt from garnishment by ordinary creditors
- A credit card company, medical provider, or personal lender cannot garnish wages even after winning a judgment
- Court-ordered child support and spousal maintenance are collected directly from wages
- Federal obligations including income taxes and federally backed student loans reach wages under federal authority
- Government creditors in those categories do not need a separate court judgment before withholding begins
- Deposited wages lose their protected status, which leaves bank accounts exposed to levy
- Filing bankruptcy stops the collection activity behind a garnishment, though support and recent tax obligations survive
Texas Law Help publishes a plain-language summary of these rules in its guide to garnishment in debt collection, which is a useful starting point before you speak to anyone.
What Are Important Aspects of a Wage Garnishment Case?
The category of debt determines everything, and the second question is always whether the money has already left your paycheck.
- Which obligation the withholding is based on, since that governs whether it is lawful at all
- Whether the creditor actually holds a valid judgment, where a judgment is required
- Whether funds in a frozen account are exempt and can be claimed back
- How much of the withheld amount represents arrears rather than the current obligation
- Whether other creditors are positioned to follow with their own collection efforts
- Whether the employer has applied the order correctly, since withholding errors do occur
Orders are not always implemented accurately, and an employer working from paperwork it does not fully understand can withhold more than the order permits. That overage is recoverable once it has been identified.
What Is The Wage Garnishment Case Timeline?
Timing varies by the type of debt, since government creditors move on a different track from judgment creditors.
- The obligation goes unpaid and moves into default or arrears
- A court order issues, or a federal agency sends notice of intent to garnish
- The order is served on your employer or your bank
- Withholding begins, often before the affected person has understood what happened
- The matter resolves through a payment arrangement, an exemption claim, or a bankruptcy filing
Acting during the notice period is far more effective than responding after withholding has started, because an order already in place is harder to unwind than one not yet entered. Federal agencies in particular send notice before they act, and that notice period is the point at which administrative options remain open.
What Should You Bring to Your Wage Garnishment Consultation?
The paperwork establishes which category of debt you are dealing with, which is the question everything else depends on.
- The garnishment order, withholding notice, or bank levy paperwork you received
- Recent pay stubs showing the amount being withheld
- Any judgment, lawsuit, or collection correspondence connected to the debt
- Recent bank statements, particularly if an account has been frozen
- A list of your other debts and their approximate balances
- Any correspondence from a federal agency regarding taxes or student loans
Expect the meeting to run under an hour. We will tell you whether the withholding is lawful, what can be done to stop or reduce it, and whether the balance behind it is one that a filing would reach.
Austin Bankruptcy Court and Local Resources
Where a filing becomes the answer, cases from Travis County are heard in the Austin Division of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas. The federal courts publish general guidance through Bankruptcy Basics, and the Department of Justice maintains the list of approved counseling agencies that consumers must complete a course with before filing.
Reach Out to Leinart Law Firm to Schedule a Consultation
The first consultation is free of charge. We will review the order, identify the obligation behind it, and tell you whether the creditor is entitled to what it is taking. Where the withholding is lawful, we will explain what options remain for reducing or restructuring it. Contact us to arrange a time and we will respond promptly.