Paycheck-protection strategies

The decision tree, visually

Step 1 — Is your debt class covered by the §1673 cap?

The federal Consumer Credit Protection Act of 1968 caps consumer-judgment wage garnishment at the lesser of (a) 25% of disposable earnings or (b) the amount above 30× federal minimum wage. See 15 USC §1673 (opens in a new tab). The cap covers most civil money judgments — credit cards, medical debt, deficiency judgments, unsecured loans — but several debt classes route through SEPARATE federal regimes:

• Child support — 50%-65% disposable (§1673(b)(2)). Higher cap; higher priority. A consumer-judgment writ can only consume what's left below the §1673 cap after child support takes its share.
• Federal student loans — 15% disposable via administrative wage garnishment (20 USC §1095a). No court judgment required; the Department of Education's collector serves the employer directly.
• Federal tax debt — IRS Publication 1494 exempt-amount table (filing status × dependents). No CCPA cap. The IRS can take substantially more than §1673 allows for consumer judgments.
• State tax debt — state-specific regime. Some states (CA, NY) cap at federal-equivalent levels; others (PA) exempt more than federal §1673 would.
• Alimony / spousal support — §1673(b)(2) treats this with the same 50%-65% cap as child support in most states.

If your debt isn't on this list, §1673(a) consumer-judgment mechanics apply, and you can move to Step 2.

Step 2 — Does your state have a stricter mirror?

The federal cap is a ceiling, not a floor. State legislatures can — and many have — set lower caps. The four categories that matter:

• Consumer-debt prohibition — Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and South Carolina prohibit consumer-debt wage garnishment outright (with carve-outs for child support, federal tax, federal student loans, and similar federal regimes). If you're a consumer-judgment debtor in one of these states, the practical answer for most paychecks is $0.
• Stricter-percent mirror — New York at 10% of gross income (CPLR §5231), Illinois at 15% of gross wages with a stricter 45× FMW floor (735 ILCS 5/12-803), Massachusetts at 15% of gross (ch. 246 §28), New Jersey at 10% of gross, Wisconsin at 20% of disposable. The decoder applies each correctly per primary statute text — important because gross-based caps protect more than disposable-based caps when significant deductions are present.
• Strong head-of-family — Florida §222.11 is the canonical case: a ≤$750/week disposable floor that is automatically exempt for head-of-family debtors, plus a written-waiver requirement above the floor.
• Federal-floor mirror — most states fall here. Federal §1673 governs; state-specific exempt-property amounts cover what's already in the bank or on the truck.

Step 3 — Do you qualify for the head-of-family exemption?

Florida is the strongest US state for head-of-family wage protection. Tennessee and Missouri have narrower variants. The vast majority of states do not recognize a separate head-of-family wage exemption — they default to the federal §1673 cap or the state's stricter mirror.

The decoder includes the head-of-family question explicitly. Where state law applies a flat or tiered head-of-family rule, the decoder routes accordingly. Where the state does not recognize the exemption, the decoder shows the underlying federal or state cap with a cross-link to the bankruptcy alternative below.

Step 4 — What's left? Bankruptcy with §522(d) election (when applicable)

If state exemptions are weak and a judgment is consuming the protectable margin, Chapter 7 bankruptcy may protect more than state exemptions alone. Two mechanics drive this:

• Automatic stay (11 USC §362 (opens in a new tab)) — the moment a bankruptcy petition is filed, garnishments stop. Wage garnishments stop. Bank-account levies stop. Collection calls stop. The stay is automatic; the debtor doesn't have to request it.
• Discharge (11 USC §727 (opens in a new tab)) — at the conclusion of a successful Chapter 7, the underlying debt is wiped (with the usual exceptions: federal student loans absent undue hardship, child support, recent tax debts, criminal restitution). The judgment can no longer support a garnishment because there is no debt to enforce.

The federal §522(d) exemption election (11 USC §522(d) (opens in a new tab)) is available only in opt-in states (28 states + DC permit debtors to choose between federal and state exemptions in bankruptcy). In opt-out states (22 states require state exemptions only), the bankruptcy-protective benefit depends entirely on state exempt- property generosity.

Bankruptcy is not the right answer for everyone. It has financial costs (filing fee + attorney fee, though many no-asset Chapter 7s are pro-bono-eligible), credit impact (up to 10 years on your credit report), and procedural obligations (means test, 341 meeting, financial-management course). But for a household where state exemptions are inadequate and consumer-judgment writs are permanent, ignoring bankruptcy as a tool is a mistake. The bankruptcy sibling site Chap7MT.us (in development) is the means-test decoder for evaluating eligibility.

What this site is NOT

GarnishMap.us is an information hub, not a law firm and not a debt-resolution operator. We do not promote debt-resolution mills (CuraDebt, Freedom Debt Relief, National Debt Relief, and similar operators) — that is a hard editorial-layer exclusion documented in our ethics-floor manifest. Debt-resolution mills typically charge fees against a settlement that may take 2-4 years to negotiate, during which collection — including garnishment — continues. For the audience of this site (people in active financial distress with active or imminent garnishment), the debt-resolution-mill path frequently makes the situation worse. See our methodology for the editorial floor.

Practical sequence

The standard sequence for a debtor facing imminent or active wage garnishment:

1. Run the decoder for your state + paycheck + debt type + head-of-family status. Note the maximum garnishable, the controlling statute, and the form pointer.
2. If your state's claim-of-exemption form applies, file it within the state-specific window (typically 10-30 days from notice of levy or writ). Even if you don't think you qualify, file the form: a hearing surfaces facts a creditor's affidavit can't.
3. If your state has a head-of-family exemption and you qualify, assert it on the claim-of-exemption form or in a separate motion as your state requires.
4. If federal-anti-attachment benefits (Social Security, SSI, SSDI, VA, unemployment) are in your bank account, the bank should automatically protect two months under 31 CFR §212. Confirm the protection landed; if not, file the state claim-of-exemption for the federal portion immediately.
5. If state and federal protections leave too little protected, talk to a consumer-bankruptcy attorney. State-bar lawyer-referral services (free or low-cost consultations) are linked at /lawyer-match.

None of these steps require panic. Most have firm procedural windows that are measurable in days or weeks, not hours. The site's amber-pin deadline markers exist to surface the windows, not to manufacture urgency.