• Wage garnishments can bring financial hardship to any debtor.Row of Stacks of One Hundred Dollar Bills image by Andy Dean from Fotolia.com
  
  In Alabama, 75 percent of your wages is exempt from garnishment. In addition, whatever you make from 30 hours of work at minimum wage is your to keep, according to the Debt Settlement Lawyers website. The other 25 percent, almost any other money -- with few notable exceptions -- is subject to attachment. This even includes pensions, provided that they are private funds. Public funds, however, are subject to garnishment for certain federal debts.
  
  

Exemptions

• According to the Debt Settlement Lawyers website, Social Security payments cannot be garnished, except in cases of child support, alimony, taxes and other obligations to the federal government. State and local pension funds are also exempt. If you have served your community in law enforcement, or as a judge, teacher, or as a state employee, you needn't worry about wage attachment. If you receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children, or to the blind, you are also exempt from garnishment. Furthermore, even if you meet none of the foregoing conditions, if you are suffering financial hardship that is so intense that garnishment would leave you unable to function financially, you may apply for a hardship exemption.
  
  Exceptions to these exemptions do apply. If you owe child support, alimony, or back taxes, for instance, the state can garnish your Social Security.
  
  

Affidavit Required

• In order for a judgment creditor to enforce a debt against you via garnishment, he must file an affidavit with an Alabama court, in front of someone authorized to administer oaths, that the creditor owes a given amount of money, registering it with the court clerk. According to the Debt Collector Problems website, the judgment creditor must indicate on the affidavit that garnishment is the only way he will be able to collect this debt.
  
  

Service Required

• If a creditor has a judgment against you for which you have failed to appear in court to answer , the issuing officer must serve you and the garnishee, your employer, at the same time. According to the Debt Collector Problems website, the garnishment notice must contain the names and addresses of the plaintiffs, how much money you owe, the case number, and the name of court where the action is pending.
  
  

Statute of Limitations

• The statute of limitations in an Alabama garnishment case is especially important. As the Debt Settlement Lawyers website says, in most cases involving open accounts, such as credit cards, once it's too late to sue, it's too late for them to garnish your wages.
  
  According to the BCS Alliance website, for credit cards, the time limit is three years. For written contracts, the limit is six years. For domestic or foreign judgments, the time limit is 20 years.