A judgment is a court order.

It means the court has decided that you legally owe money to someone.

That person or company is called a creditor.

If a creditor gets a judgment against you, they can try to collect the money you owe.

There are three main ways they may do this. Sometimes if they know you have a lump sum coming, like a payment on a contract or job, an inheritance, or personal injury settlement, the creditor may ask the judge to allow them to seize that money. But those are unusual circumstances.

A. Hearing on a Motion for Proceedings Supplemental (Pro Supp)

The creditor files a paper with the court asking for a hearing.

The hearing helps figure out how you will pay the debt.

Always go to the hearing.

If you have a good reason why you can’t go, such as being sick or out of town, file a Motion to Continue. Find the form here: https://indianalegalhelp.org/commonly-used-forms/

At the hearing, the creditor may:

• Ask you to set up a payment plan (before or during the hearing).

• Ask questions about your money, job, or property.

• You must answer truthfully and under oath in front of the judge.

B. Wage Garnishment

Garnishment means taking money from your paycheck to pay the bill.

The creditor can start the process of finding out where you work and if you have wages to garnish when they ask for a Pro Supp hearing, but it may take up to 30 days after they file the Motion for Pro Supp

C. Bank Account Freezes/Garnishment

The creditor can start the process of finding out if and where you have a bank account with money in it when they file the Motion for Pro Supp.

Some creditors will send paperwork to many banks in town asking whether the bank has an account for you. While information about your account is usually secret, the law allows the creditor to find out about your account if a judge has said you owe the creditor a debt.

If the creditor finds an account, they ask for automatic freeze or hold. Freezing means you can’t take money out.

Then, they can ask to take money from your account to pay the judgment.

Indiana law does not require the creditor to wait until you figure out a way to pay the judgement.

But some counties have local court rules that say the creditor must wait a short time, usually 20-30 days after the judge’s order saying you owe.

This wait gives you time to:

• Pay the debt, or

• Make a payment plan by talking to the creditor or their lawyer.

Bigger counties with more people and court cases are more likely to have this rule.

These rules help courts stay organized and manage time.

In counties without this rule, the creditor can collect right away.

A legal paper filed by the creditor in court.

It asks the court to start collecting the money you owe.

It may lead to a hearing about your income, job, and money.

You should get a written notice in the mail.

You should also often check your case online at: mycase.in.gov

The judge may schedule a hearing.

At the hearing:

• You must answer questions under oath.

• The creditor’s lawyer may ask you to:

  • Agree to a payment plan, or

  • Allow wage withholding (taking money from your paycheck).

If you don’t agree or no plan is made, the creditor can ask the judge to:

• Freeze your bank accounts.

• Garnish your wages.

Read all papers from the court or creditor.

Check your case online at mycase.in.gov.

Go to your court hearing.

Ask for legal help if you don’t know what to do.

You can also read the information on this website for:

• Proceedings Supplemental hearings

• Wage garnishment

• Bank account freezes

A 'Pro Supp' is a court hearing.

It happens after a judge already decided you owe someone money (a judgment).

The person who won (called the creditor) asks you (the debtor) to come to court.

They want to talk about how you will pay the money you owe.

Some creditors ask for a hearing right away. Others may wait 30 days or longer, depending on the creditor or the court.

At the hearing, the creditor may ask you:

• Where you work

• How much money you make

• If you have a bank account

• If you own anything like a car or stocks

You must tell the truth.

Bring papers if something makes it hard for you to pay:

• Medical bills

• Doctor’s notes

• A child support order

• Anything that shows hardship

It is very important to go to this hearing.

If a sheriff or deputy gave you the hearing papers in person and you don’t show up, the judge can order your arrest.

You might have to pay part of your debt to get out of jail.

You can look up your case here: mycase.in.gov

For free legal help or to ask a lawyer a question:

• indianalegalhelp.org

• indiana.freelegalanswers.org

Usually, no.

The court has already decided that you owe the money.

That happened in small claims or regular court.

If you didn’t go to the first trial or hearing, the judge may have given a default judgment against you.

That means the creditor won because you didn’t show up to fight the case.

Or the creditor may have won by Summary Judgment. This means that the creditor submitted legal argument and documents supporting their case, and you either didn’t respond with paperwork of your own or the judge just decided in the creditor’s favor.

Maybe, if you act fast.

You can ask the court to 'set aside' the judgment (cancel it and give you a new trial).

You may ask to set aside the judgment if:

• You didn’t know about the lawsuit because it was sent to the wrong address

• You had a serious emergency like being in the hospital

• You have another good reason for missing the case

BUT you must:

• Ask the court as soon as you find out

• Have a good defense (a good reason why you don’t owe the money)

If you really do owe the money, the judge may not cancel the judgment—even if you didn’t get good notice.

If you lost because the judge ruled in favor of the creditor after a Summary Judgment, these may be harder to set aside for non-lawyers.

1. The Creditor or their lawyer Does NOT Come:

• The judge may cancel the hearing.

• But the creditor can reschedule it.

2. Neither You Nor the Creditor Come:

• The hearing is canceled.

• The creditor must file new paperwork to get a new date.

3. YOU Do Not Come:

• If you were not given the hearing notice the right way, the hearing may be rescheduled. A common example is when the notice of the hearing went to an old address.

• If a sheriff gave you the papers in person and you still do not come, you could be arrested. This is because the judge ordered you to come to the hearing. It is contempt of court, or disrespect to the court, if you don’t obey a court order.

• If you’re arrested, you might have to pay a portion of the debt to get out of jail.

• If you missed a hearing, call the court right away.

• Ask for a new date.

• Go to the new hearing and explain why you missed the first one.

• the judge to cancel the arrest order.

• It’s really risky not to come to a pro supp hearing. You should go every time.

• If you have a good reason for needing to reschedule the hearing, such as sickness, or being out of state,  file a Motion to Continue the hearing as soon as you know. This motion is at https://indianalegalhelp.org/commonly-used-forms/

• The judge may say “no” to your Motion to Continue, and order you to come to the hearing anyhow. Keep watch at www.mycase.in.gov or call the court to see if your Motion to reschedule the hearing is granted.

4. You and the Creditor Both Come:

• The judge may let the creditor talk to you first without the judge being in the courtroom, to see if you can come to an agreement about payment plans.

• The creditor or their lawyer may ask if you can agree to a payment plan.

• Be realistic about what you offer to pay, the day of the month it would be due, how long the agreement goes.

• Read information about whether you’re collection proof, below. Under certain circumstances, it may be the creditor can’t make you pay, and you shouldn’t agree to do so.

• If you agree, the judge will make it an official order you must follow.

• You don’t have to agree with the creditor. If you can’t agree, or you don’t want to talk to the creditor or their lawyer, you can ask to talk with the creditor in front of the judge to explain your circumstances.

Sometimes it's hard to tell who is the judge.

The judge sits at the front, at a raised desk.

The judge will ask you to promise to tell the truth.

The creditor’s lawyer may look official, but they are not the judge. While they might suggest a payment plan for you, you don’t have to agree to it, and may ask to have the hearing with the judge in the courtroom.

If you have very little money and property, you may be collection proof.

This means the creditor cannot collect money from you right now.

You may be collection proof if:

• You make less than $217.50 a week at your job, and that won’t change soon.

• You only get Social Security, SSI, Veterans Benefits, TANF, child support, unemployment, or workers’ comp, or other government benefits.

• You have less than $450 in your bank account

• Your bank account has more than $450 but only has protected money (like benefits listed above)

• You own less than $10,050 total in personal property , including your car and things in your home

• You have a pension you cannot use yet

• You use tools for work that are worth less than $4,000

• Bring papers to show your income and benefits.

Tell the judge you are collection proof.

Do not agree to a payment plan if you cannot afford it.

If you are collection proof, the creditor cannot ask for another hearing unless your situation changes

If a court says you owe money, the creditor can ask to take money from your paycheck.

This is called wage garnishment.

Only money from work can be taken.

These types of income cannot be garnished:

• Social Security

• Veterans’ Benefits

• Unemployment Benefits

• Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF)

• Worker’s Compensation

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

• Child Support

• Other government benefits

To start garnishing your wages, the creditor must file a paper called a Motion for Proceedings Supplemental.

This lets them begin the process of finding out where you work and how much you make.

They can ask the court to order your job to take money from your pay.

This can happen very fast after the judgment.

Sometimes it happens right away. Other times it happens 30 days or more after the judgment.

It depends on the court's rules, the creditor, and if the creditor knows your address.

Your boss cannot fire you just because your pay is being garnished.

But your boss might charge a small fee to handle the garnishment.

The law limits how much money can be taken from your paycheck.

The creditor can take the smaller amount of these two:

• 25% of your pay after taxes

• Whatever is left after subtracting 30 times the minimum wage from your pay

If losing this money makes it too hard to pay your bills, you can ask the judge to lower it.

You can ask the judge to take only 10% of your pay instead.

This is called a hardship request.

The judge does not have to say yes.

You must prove to the judge that you really have a hardship.

Let’s say you make $400 a week after taxes.

The minimum wage in Indiana (2025) is $7.25 an hour.

25% of $400 = $100

30 × $7.25 = $217.50

$400 − $217.50 = $182.50

Compare the two numbers: $100 and $182.50.

Because the smaller number wins, the court would order $100 to be taken.

10% of $400 = $40

30 × $7.25 = $217.50

$400 − $217.50 = $182.50

Compare the two: $40 and $182.50.

If the judge agrees you have a hardship, they would order only $40 to be taken.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development knows where people work.

This information is usually private.

But a creditor can do court paperwork to ask the department where you work.

This means your creditor may find out quickly where you are working.

Then, they can ask the court to garnish your paycheck to pay your debt.

A judgment is a paper from the court.

It says you legally owe money to someone.

That person is called a creditor.

Once they get a judgment, they can try to take your money.

This is called garnishment.

Garnishment means they can try to take money from your paycheck or bank account.

Before a creditor can freeze your bank account, they must take steps through the court.

They must get a court order from a judge.

This order tells the bank to give information about your account.

If the creditor finds you have more than $450 in the account, they can ask the judge for another order.

This second court order tells the bank to freeze your account so that the creditor can take the money in your account to pay the judgment.

Your bank must freeze your account right away.

You can’t take money out.

Checks you wrote may bounce.

Bills set to be paid may not go through.

Your debit card may stop working.

This can cause problems and extra fees.

The bank must send you a notice within one business day.

There’s no requirement the notice be by text or email, so it may come by mail, which is slower. Thus you might not know until you can’t access your money.

The bank notice will say:

• Your account is frozen

• Who is trying to take the money

• How much is being taken

• How to ask for a court hearing

The bank should also send you:

• A copy of the court’s garnishment order

• A Notice of Exempt Income and Request for Hearing form

Some types of money can’t be taken from your account:

• Social Security

• Veterans' Benefits

• SSI or SSDI

• Unemployment

• Some child support payments

There are other government benefits that are protected in addition to these.

This money is only protected if there is less than 2 months’ worth in the account.

If there is more than 2 months’ worth, the extra money might not be protected.

The first $450 in your account is protected by law.

The creditor can’t take it, no matter what.

If the money belongs to someone else—like a spouse or relative—and it came from their job or benefits, the creditor can’t take that either if the joint account holder can show that the money in the account is theirs.

You can ask the court for a quick hearing.

If the judge agrees, you may be allowed to use your money.

If someone else shares your account and:

• They put in their own money

• They don’t owe the debt

Their money can’t be taken either.

They can also ask for a hearing to protect their money.

Ask for a court hearing right away.

The court must give you a hearing within 5 business days.

You can pause direct deposit of your checks or benefits.

This helps stop more money from being frozen before the hearing.

If your account is frozen and:

• You don’t ask for a hearing, or

• The judge says the money isn’t protected,

Then the money in your account may be taken to pay the debt.

This can happen 20 to 30 days after the freeze starts.

Act fast if you think your money is protected.

You can’t stop the freeze just because you need the money.

Only protected income, the first $450, and someone else’s money (if they prove it’s theirs) are safe.

There is a court form called the Notice of Exempt Income and Request for Hearing.

You can use this form to ask the judge to let you use your protected money.

Look under 'Forms' or ask the court clerk for help finding it.

This form comes with instructions and helps you explain why your money should not be taken.