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Home » Exemptions » Can a Judgment Creditor Garnish Your Stimulus Check?

Can a Judgment Creditor Garnish Your Stimulus Check?

ByGideon Alper March 15, 2021April 20, 2021

Several people in the last week have asked whether a judgment creditor can garnish their stimulus check. The latest COVID relief bill provides some people with up to $1,400 per person, plus an additional amount for having dependents.

Once deposited into your bank account, this money is not safe from garnishment. Prior COVID relief bills did provide protection from garnishments for civil debt, but this one does not.

A judgment creditor wanting to garnish your stimulus check would obtain a writ of garnishment from the Court and then serve it on the bank. Under Florida law, once the bank is served, the bank must freeze the account. The creditor will send to you by mail a notice of garnishment as well as a Claim of Exemption form.

Although the Claim of Exemption form does have an “Other” generic category, “COVID payments” or “stimulus check” is not a recognized exemption from garnishment under Florida state law or federal law. In fact, a creditor can garnish your stimulus check even if you have been adversely affected by the COVID crisis or even if you are unemployed as a result of COVID.

There’s an exception for certain kinds of debt. Your stimulus check can’t be garnished for child support payment or for federal or state tax debt.

However, there may be other ways to protect your stimulus money from garnishment once it is deposited into a bank account. In Florida for example, a married couple in which only one spouse is liable on a judgment can protect the stimulus funds in a joint tenants by entireties bank account. Not all joint accounts in Florida are necessarily tenants by entireties accounts. You will have to review teh account details to make sure it qualifies as a tenants by entireties account.

In addition, there are certain bank accounts in the United States subject to laws that prohibit garnishment, no matter where the judgment debtor lives.

Last updated on April 20, 2021

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Gideon Alper

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Gideon Alper specializes in asset protection planning for individuals and their families.

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      • UTMA Accounts
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      • Business Entities
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    • Offshore Planning
      • Nevis LLC
      • Offshore Bank Accounts
      • Offshore Planning
      • Offshore Trusts
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      • Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency
      • Deficiency Judgments
      • Fact Information Sheet
      • Head of Household
      • IRS Tax Debt
      • Not Paying Judgments
      • Statute of Limitations
      • Wage Garnishment
      • Writ of Garnishment
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      • Avoiding Probate
      • Estate Planning
      • Gun Trusts
      • Inheritance Tax
      • Irrevocable Trusts
      • Last Will and Testament
      • Living Trusts
      • Living Will
      • LGBT Estate Planning
      • Power of Attorney
      • Probate
      • Special Needs Trust
      • Trust Administration
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      • Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
      • Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
      • Dealing With Creditors
      • Involuntary Bankruptcy
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      • Orlando Bankruptcy
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