Wage garnishment in Florida

Head of family earning $750 a week or less

All take-home pay is exemptsource

Head of family earning more than $750 a week

Still exempt unless you signed a written waiversource

Time to file the claim of exemption

20 days after you receive the noticesource

Exempt pay sitting in a bank

Protected for 6 months if it can be tracedsource

The head of family exemption in Florida

Florida law calls you a head of family if you provide more than half the support for a child or another dependent. You do not need to be married or own a home. Under Florida Statutes section 222.11, all of a head of family’s disposable earnings (pay left after taxes and other deductions the law requires) are exempt when they are $750 a week or less.

If you earn more than $750 a week, your pay is still protected unless you signed a waiver. A valid waiver must be a separate page attached to the loan or card agreement, in the same language as that agreement, printed in at least 14-point type. Even with a signed waiver, the creditor cannot go past the federal cap.

How much can be garnished from my paycheck in Florida?

If no one depends on you for more than half their support, Florida gives you the federal limit and nothing extra. The creditor can take 25% of your disposable pay or the part of it above $217.50 a week, whichever is smaller. The U.S. Department of Labor explains this rule in Fact Sheet 30 on wage garnishment.

On $600 a week of take-home pay, that is up to $150 a week. On $250 a week, it is $32.50, because only the amount above $217.50 can be reached. If you do support a dependent, the right figure may be zero, which is why the claim form matters so much.

What the writ of garnishment does

For wages, the court issues a continuing writ of garnishment to your employer. Under section 77.0305, it keeps taking part of each paycheck until the judgment is paid or the court orders otherwise. Your employer may also keep up to $5 from the first deduction and up to $2 from each one after that to cover its paperwork.

State and local government workers are not shielded from this. The creditor must mail you a copy of the writ and a Notice to Defendant within 5 business days after the writ is issued or 3 business days after it is served on your employer, whichever is later.

How to stop wage garnishment in Florida

The Notice to Defendant includes a form called the Claim of Exemption and Request for Hearing. The steps are set out in section 77.041:

1. Check the head of family box that fits you, plus any other exemption.
2. Sign it in front of a notary or deputy clerk.
3. File it with the clerk within 20 days after you receive the notice.
4. Mail or hand deliver copies to the creditor (or its lawyer) and to your employer.

The creditor then has 8 business days to file a sworn objection if you hand delivered its copy or 14 business days if you mailed it. If it does not object, the clerk must dissolve the writ and your pay is released. If it objects, the court sets a hearing. Call and a garnishment specialist goes through your writ and the 20-day date with you.

Can my bank account be garnished in Florida?

A creditor can garnish a bank account, but exempt head of family wages keep their protection after you deposit them. Section 222.11 protects them for 6 months after the bank receives them, as long as you can trace them and show they came from your pay. Mixing them with other money in the same account does not, by itself, end the protection. Pay stubs and bank statements that line up deposits with paydays make this much easier to prove. The same claim form also lists Social Security, unemployment, veterans’ benefits and retirement money as exemptions you can check.