California Garnishment
Law and Exemptions
The California [wage] garnishment law is complex. Any specific
questions regarding California garnishment exemptions, or other areas of
garnishment law in California should be directed to a California wage
garnishment attorney.
However, under California law, the following types of income
[types] are usually not subject to wage garnishment:
~Public
and private retirement benefits (such as IRAs and 401Ks)
~Most
forms of public assistance, including unemployment and workers’ compensation
benefits, county assistance, student financial aid, and union benefits
~ Insurance
benefits, including payments received from life and homeowners insurance
policies
~Under
federal law, Social Security benefits are exempt from garnishment (except in
cases of debts owed to the federal government, such as delinquent taxes, and
garnishments for overdue child support)
California Garnishment
Limits
California does not provide its own law in terms of the maximum
amount of earnings that can be subject to garnishment – therefore the federal rule
applies. Under federal law, the maximum amount of an employee’s earnings that
is subject to garnishment is the calculated as the lesser of the following:
~ 25% of
the debtor’s disposable income (disposable income is defined as what’s left
after federally-required deductions, such as income taxes)
~ The
amount by which the garnishee’s weekly incomes exceeds 30 times the federal
minimum wage
Note that larger amounts are allowed for debts related to taxes
or child support. The amounts exempt from garnishment in these cases varies by
state law, as well as by other circumstances.
California Garnishment
Statute of Limitations
In most cases, a creditor must bring a lawsuit against the
debtor within four years of the debt occurring. Note that this doesn’t mean
that the garnishment must take place within four years, just that the lawsuit
resulting in the garnishment order must have been filed within that time.
Once the judgment allowing the garnishment has been issued, the
creditor can continue to garnish wages for up to 10 years (or until the debt
has been paid in full.)
Article Excerpt from Garnishment
Laws, GarnishmentLaws.org
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