Pillar
When your state protects more than the federal cap
A handful of states recognize a "head-of-family" or "head-of-household" wage exemption beyond the federal CCPA cap. The protection is uneven — some states have a strong tiered rule (Florida), others a narrow dollar cap (Tennessee, Missouri), and most have none at all. The category you fall into matters more than the framework label.
Strong-tiered — Florida
Florida's Fla. Stat. §222.11 (opens in a new tab) sets the canonical strong-tiered head-of-family rule. Two tiers:
- Tier 1 — disposable earnings ≤ $750/week: automatically exempt. No claim required, no waiver possible at this tier.
- Tier 2 — disposable earnings > $750/week: the excess may not be garnished unless the debtor has voluntarily signed a written waiver. Most debtors have not signed such a waiver, but it is NOT an unconditional unlimited exemption.
The decoder encodes both tiers separately. Selecting "head-of-family: yes" in Florida with weekly-equivalent disposable ≤ $750 produces a $0 max-garnishable output. Above $750/week, you'll see a follow-up checkbox asking whether you signed a waiver; the default is unchecked (most cases).
The Florida statutory definition of "head of family" is "a natural person who is providing more than one-half of the support for a child or other dependent" (Fla. Stat. §222.11(1)). Supporting a spouse alone may or may not qualify under current Florida case law — confirm with a Florida consumer-debt-defense attorney.
Narrow / flat-cap — Tennessee, Missouri, others
Tennessee (Tenn. Code §26-2-106) and Missouri (Mo. Rev. Stat. §525.030) recognize a head-of-family adjustment that's narrower than Florida's. Tennessee adds a per-dependent dollar bump on top of the standard exemption; Missouri caps head-of-family disposable garnishment at 10% (versus 25% for non-head-of-family Missouri workers). Per-state cap figures rotate with state-statute amendment cycles — confirm against the current statute.
No separate state head-of-family wage exemption
The majority of states do not recognize a head-of-family wage exemption distinct from the general CCPA floor. If state exemptions leave too little protected in a hard case — for example, a default judgment against a debtor with dependents in a state with no head-of-family adjustment — the federal §522(d) exemption election available in Chapter 7 bankruptcy may offer broader protection. See 11 USC §522(d) (opens in a new tab). That's a separate analysis from anything on this page; see paycheck-protection strategies.
State-by-state at a glance
Strong tiered
No separate state exemption
- California
- Texas
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Illinois
- Ohio
- Georgia
- North Carolina
- Michigan
- Arizona
- Washington
- Colorado
- Virginia
- New Jersey
- Massachusetts
- Indiana
- Maryland
- Wisconsin
- Minnesota
- Alabama
- South Carolina
- Louisiana
- Kentucky
- Oregon
- Oklahoma
- Connecticut
- Iowa
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Kansas
- Maine
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Utah
- Vermont
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
Citations
- Fla. Stat. §222.11 (opens in a new tab)verified May 11— Florida head-of-family exemption: $750/week automatic floor + written-waiver carve-out above floor.
- 11 USC §522(d) (opens in a new tab)verified May 11— Federal bankruptcy exemption election; available in 'opt-in' states whose own exemptions are weak.