Wage garnishment in Florida

Florida's head of family rule decides most cases; the federal ceiling covers everyone else. Several kinds of income are exempt under their own statutes, and the claim form printed in Fla. Stat. 77.041 lists the major ones.

Fla. Stat. 222.11 uses a support test, not a marriage or title test. A head of family (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab) includes any person who provides more than one-half of the support for a child or other dependent. The statute says nothing about marriage, and the dependent does not have to be your child.

The $750 figure is weekly disposable earnings: pay after the amounts the law requires your employer to withhold, such as taxes. It is not your gross wage.

Only above $750 a week, and only in a strict form. The statute requires the waiver to be written in the same language as the contract, kept in a separate document (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab) attached to it, and printed in at least 14-point type with set wording.

That wording, printed in capital letters, begins: "If you provide more than one-half of the support for a child or other dependent, all or part of your income is exempt from garnishment under Florida law." Even with a valid waiver, the federal limit still caps the amount taken.

Florida garnishment runs through the court file, so each step leaves a paper trail. These are the steps the statutes set out after a judgment.

The claim form is part of the Notice to Defendant printed in Fla. Stat. 77.041 (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab), which the clerk attaches to the writ. You check the exemptions that apply, have the form notarized, and file it with the clerk within 20 days after you receive the notice.

You must also mail or hand deliver copies to the creditor and the garnishee, and swear that you did.

The creditor then has 8 business days to answer under oath if you hand delivered the form, or 14 business days if you mailed it.

A claim of exemption says the money is protected. A motion to dissolve says something in the creditor's motion is untrue, for example the judgment amount. Under Fla. Stat. 77.07 (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab), that motion is due within 20 days after the date on the certificate of service of the creditor's notice, and a late one is struck.

The writ also has a time limit. If the creditor files neither a dismissal nor a motion for final judgment within 6 months, the writ dissolves on its own, unless the creditor serves a notice extending it for 6 more months.

Some of it can be. Head of family wages that are exempt stay exempt for 6 months (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab) after the bank receives them, if they can be traced and identified as earnings. Mixing them with other money does not by itself defeat that tracing.

Federal benefits work differently. When Social Security, VA, federal retirement or railroad benefits arrive by direct deposit, the bank must calculate and protect two months of those deposits (eCFR, opens in a new tab) without waiting for you to claim anything.

Federal law says no employer may fire an employee because earnings have been garnished for any one debt (Cornell LII, opens in a new tab), and it sets criminal penalties for a willful violation. That protection does not cover a second, separate debt.

Working for the state or a local government does not prevent a Florida garnishment (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab) either. If you are worried about your job, a Florida employment lawyer or legal aid office can tell you where you stand.