People should be getting their third round of stimulus, $1,400 per person, any day now. These checks are part of the recent $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. In many cases, the money will come by direct deposit. Many residents of Maryland are asking themselves, “Can my stimulus check be garnished?” Thankfully, the state of Maryland has put protections in place so that these critically important stimulus checks cannot be garnished.
You might have read that this new round of stimulus checks are not protected from garnishment. That’s generally true. However, in Maryland, those checks are protected from garnishment by this executive order until the state of emergency is over. That means that any branch of federal or state government shouldn’t garnish your stimulus check.
If your check does get garnished or frozen, you should call a lawyer.
However, this order relies on your bank’s understanding that the $1400 deposit is money from the latest round of federal relief. It’s possible that if you move that stimulus money into a different account, the bank might no longer recognize that it is protected, which could result in the money being affected by a garnishment.
Read more about bank garnishments here and here.
If you need free help, you can contact one of Maryland’s Court Help Centers here.
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