Florida garnishment law lets a creditor who has already won a court judgment order your employer or bank to hand over wages or funds to pay the debt, but the same law gives Florida debtors some of the strongest protections in the country. Chapter 77 of the Florida Statutes runs the process; Chapter 222 and federal law carve out the exemptions. If you qualify as head of family, every dollar of your paycheck can be off-limits. Even if you don’t, federal caps limit what a creditor can take, and a properly filed claim of exemption can stop the garnishment entirely.
A creditor cannot garnish anything until it has sued you and either recovered a judgment or filed suit to recover a debt.1Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes Title VI, Chapter 77 – Garnishment Once the writ issues, it goes to a third party holding your money, usually an employer or a bank, and that party must freeze the funds while the case plays out.
Head of Family: Florida’s Strongest Wage Shield
Florida’s head-of-family exemption is the single most important rule for most wage earners facing garnishment. You qualify if you provide more than half the financial support for a child or other dependent. You do not have to be married. You do not have to own a home.
If you qualify and your weekly disposable earnings are $750 or less, none of your wages can be garnished for ordinary consumer debt.2Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 222.11 – Exemption of Wages From Garnishment If your disposable earnings run above $750 per week, the protection still applies unless you signed a written waiver that meets strict rules: a separate document attached to the credit agreement, in the same language as the contract, in at least 14-point type, with specific disclosure language telling you that you are giving up the protection. A waiver hidden in the fine print of a credit application does not count. Even a valid waiver cannot push the garnishment past the federal caps described below.
“Disposable earnings” means what is left after legally required deductions like federal taxes and Social Security withholding. Voluntary deductions such as health insurance or 401(k) contributions are not subtracted, so this figure is higher than your take-home pay.
The Wage Cap If You Don’t Qualify as Head of Family
Debtors who are not heads of household are still protected, just less. Florida applies the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act cap, which limits garnishment to whichever is smaller: 25% of your weekly disposable earnings, or the amount by which those earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment At the current $7.25 federal minimum wage, that threshold is $217.50 per week.4U.S. Department of Labor. State Minimum Wage Laws
The math works out like this. Earn $217.50 or less in weekly disposable earnings, and nothing can be taken. Earn between $217.50 and $290, and only the amount above $217.50 is exposed. Earn more than $290, and the creditor gets 25% of your disposable earnings. This floor applies to every ordinary consumer-debt garnishment in Florida.
Money and Property That Can’t Be Touched
Several categories of property are protected no matter your household status, under a mix of Florida and federal law.
Retirement Accounts
Money in tax-qualified retirement plans is exempt from creditor claims in Florida. The statute reaches traditional and Roth IRAs, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, 457(b) deferred compensation plans, and pension plans the IRS has approved as tax-exempt.5Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 222.21 – Exemption of Pension Money and Certain Tax-Exempt Funds or Accounts From Legal Processes Federal pension money you received in the three months before the writ issued is also protected, if it is necessary for your support.
Life Insurance and Annuities
The cash surrender value of a life insurance policy on a Florida resident is exempt, and so are annuity proceeds, unless the policy was purchased for the benefit of the very creditor now trying to collect.6FindLaw. Florida Statutes 222.14 – Exemption of Cash Surrender Value of Life Insurance Policies and Annuity Contracts From Legal Process Death benefits paid to a named beneficiary are protected from the insured person’s creditors.7Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 222.13 – Life Insurance Policies; Disposition of Proceeds
Disability Income
Benefits paid under any disability policy, life, health, or accident, are exempt from garnishment in Florida, again with the exception for policies taken out for the creditor’s benefit.8FindLaw. Florida Statutes 222.18 – Disability Income Benefits Exempt From Legal Process
Social Security and Federal Benefits
Social Security, SSI, VA benefits, federal retirement pay, military survivor benefits, and FEMA assistance are protected from private creditor garnishment under federal law.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Can a Debt Collector Take My Federal Benefits, Like Social Security or VA Payments? When these benefits arrive by direct deposit, the bank must automatically protect two months’ worth of deposits from any garnishment order. Different rules apply to government debts, discussed below.
Homestead
Your primary residence is protected from forced sale to satisfy a judgment. Inside a municipality, the protection covers up to one-half acre of contiguous land; outside a municipality, up to 160 acres.10FindLaw. Florida Constitution Art. X, Section 4 – Homestead; Exemptions There is no cap on the home’s value. Because the exemption sits in the Florida Constitution rather than a statute, it is hard to override. It does not apply to property taxes, purchase money mortgages, or debts for work done on the property itself.
Exempt Wages Deposited in Your Bank Account
A common worry is that exempt wages lose their protection the moment they land in a checking account. Florida law says otherwise. Earnings that qualify as exempt under the wage garnishment statute stay protected for six months after the bank receives them, as long as the funds can be traced and identified as earnings.2Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 222.11 – Exemption of Wages From Garnishment Mixing exempt wages with other money does not automatically destroy the trace.
The catch is proof. If a creditor freezes your bank account and you claim the funds are exempt wages, you need bank statements, pay stubs, or deposit records showing that specific dollars in the account came from protected earnings within the last six months. Keeping exempt income in its own account makes this much easier. General funds that cannot be traced to an exempt source get no special protection.
Debts That Reach Past the Normal Limits
The rules above cover ordinary consumer debt: credit cards, medical bills, personal loans. Some debts follow different rules and reach further.
Child Support and Alimony
Court-ordered support can be garnished at higher rates. Under federal law, up to 50% of your disposable earnings can be taken if you are supporting another spouse or dependent child besides the one covered by the order, or up to 60% if you are not. Both figures rise by 5 percentage points, to 55% or 65%, when the support is more than 12 weeks overdue.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment Social Security benefits, otherwise protected from private creditors, can be reached to enforce support obligations.11Social Security Administration. Social Security Act 459
Tax Debt
The IRS does not follow the standard garnishment procedure. It can levy wages and bank accounts directly. The amount exempt from a federal tax levy depends on your filing status, pay frequency, and number of dependents, and there is no flat percentage cap; anything above the exempt amount goes to the IRS until the debt is paid.12Internal Revenue Service. Publication 1494 – Amount Exempt from Levy on Wages, Salary, and Other Income The IRS can also take up to 15% of Social Security benefits for overdue taxes.13Social Security Administration. Can My Social Security Benefits Be Garnished or Levied
How to Claim Your Exemption
When a garnishment writ is issued against you, the court clerk attaches a notice explaining your right to claim exemptions. This deadline is the most important thing on the page: you have 20 days from receiving the notice to file a sworn Claim of Exemption and Request for Hearing with the clerk’s office.14Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 77.041 – Notice to Individual Defendant for Right Against Garnishment of Wages, Money, and Other Property Miss it and you can lose funds that would otherwise have been protected.
The claim has to be notarized and has to identify the specific exemption you are asserting: head of family, Social Security income, retirement funds, or whatever fits your situation. You also have to send a copy to the creditor (or its attorney) and to the garnishee.
Once you file, the creditor has a short window to object: 8 business days if you hand-delivered the claim, 14 business days if you mailed it. If no objection is filed, the writ is dissolved and your funds are released without a hearing.14Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 77.041 – Notice to Individual Defendant for Right Against Garnishment of Wages, Money, and Other Property If the creditor does object, the court sets a hearing. The question at the hearing is whether your funds qualify for the exemption you claimed, not whether you owe the underlying debt. You can attend with or without a lawyer.
Can Your Employer Fire You Over a Garnishment
Federal law bars an employer from firing you because your wages were garnished for a single debt. Violation carries a fine up to $1,000, up to one year in prison, or both.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1674 – Restriction on Discharge From Employment by Reason of Garnishment The protection covers exactly one garnishment. If a second creditor obtains a writ for a separate debt, the federal shield no longer blocks a termination. That is one reason to resolve or consolidate outstanding judgments before a second garnishment lands.