How Much Can Be Garnished From Your Bank Account?

A judgment creditor can take everything in your bank account above whatever amount is specifically protected. There is no federal percentage cap on how much can be garnished from a bank account — unlike wages, which federal law limits to 25% of disposable earnings. So the real answer to how much can be garnished from your bank account is: the entire balance, minus any funds that qualify as exempt under federal or state law. What’s left standing depends on the source of the money, the state you’re in, and who is collecting.

Why There’s No Percentage Limit on Bank Garnishment

Federal law caps wage garnishment at the lesser of 25% of your disposable earnings or the amount by which your weekly pay exceeds 30 times the federal minimum wage.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment That protection stops at your paycheck. Once the money hits your checking account, it is no longer wages — it is a bank balance, and the 25% ceiling does not follow it in.

When a creditor with a court judgment serves a garnishment order on your bank, the bank freezes what’s in the account and turns over anything above your claimed exemptions. If your balance doesn’t cover the judgment, the creditor can serve new orders as fresh deposits arrive. You typically find out about the freeze when a debit card is declined or a check bounces, not when the order is served.

Federally Protected Benefits Are Shielded Automatically

Several categories of federal income keep their protection after they land in your account, regardless of state:

  • Social Security and SSI (42 U.S.C. 407; 42 U.S.C. 1383(d)(1))
  • Veterans benefits (38 U.S.C. 5301(a))
  • Railroad retirement and railroad unemployment benefits (45 U.S.C. 231m(a); 45 U.S.C. 352(e))
  • Federal employee retirement benefits, including CSRS and FERS (5 U.S.C. 8346; 5 U.S.C. 8470)

When a garnishment order arrives, your bank must look back two months and total the qualifying federal benefit deposits it received during that window. The bank then shields the lower of that total or your current balance, and you keep full access to that protected amount without filing anything.2eCFR. 31 CFR Part 212 – Garnishment of Accounts Containing Federal Benefit Payments Anything above that line is still subject to the garnishment.

The automatic protection only applies to benefits deposited electronically through ACH with the coding that identifies them as exempt.2eCFR. 31 CFR Part 212 – Garnishment of Accounts Containing Federal Benefit Payments If you deposit a paper benefit check by hand, the bank is not required to flag those funds automatically.3Fiscal.Treasury.gov. Guidelines for Garnishment of Accounts Containing Federal Benefit Payments You can still claim the exemption, but you have to do it yourself through your state’s process while the account sits frozen.

State Exemptions Can Protect More, But You Must Claim Them

States layer their own exemptions on top of the federal benefit protections. These vary sharply. Some states automatically shield a minimum balance in any bank account regardless of the source of funds, in a range from roughly $1,000 to $4,000. Others provide a “wildcard” exemption that lets you protect a set dollar amount of any personal property, including cash, running from about $1,000 to over $13,000 at the high end.

Here is the difference that matters: state exemptions are usually not automatic. You have to file a claim. After the freeze, you’ll receive a garnishment notice and exemption paperwork, and the filing window is short — often 10 to 20 days. Miss the deadline and money that would have been protected is gone. Treat the exemption filing as the most time-sensitive task you have.

Joint Accounts Are Fully Exposed

Courts and banks generally presume that each owner of a joint account has equal rights to all the funds in it. A garnishment order against one owner freezes the whole account, not a half share. The non-debtor co-owner can lose access to money they earned and deposited.

A non-debtor can push back, but the burden is theirs to prove which funds are theirs. Pay stubs, deposit receipts, bank statements, and benefit award letters showing traceable contributions are the usual evidence. Funds that originated from exempt sources like Social Security keep their exempt status inside a joint account if the non-debtor can trace them. Once deposits from both owners have been commingled over time, that tracing gets much harder. If you share an account with someone who carries significant debt, keeping your funds separate is the cleaner protection.

When the Usual Protections Shrink

Child Support and Alimony

Federal benefits that are otherwise off-limits to creditors lose most of their protection when the debt is child support or alimony. Social Security, veterans’ benefits, and other federal payments can be garnished for these obligations.4Social Security Administration. Can My Social Security Benefits Be Garnished or Levied? The override is written directly into 42 U.S.C. 659, which states that its garnishment authority applies notwithstanding the usual protections. On the wage side, garnishment for child support can reach 50% to 65% of disposable earnings depending on whether you’re supporting another family. A bank account holding what looked like exempt benefit deposits will not survive a child support order the way it would survive a credit card judgment.

IRS Bank Levies

The IRS does not need a court judgment to reach your bank account. It must send written notice at least 30 days before the levy,5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6331 – Levy and Distraint and the Notice of Intent to Levy must explain your appeal rights and alternatives such as installment agreements.6Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP504 Notice

An IRS levy differs from a private garnishment in one useful way: the bank must hold the frozen funds for 21 calendar days before sending them over.7eCFR. 26 CFR 301.6332-3 – The 21-Day Holding Period Applicable to Property Held by Banks That window is your chance to reach the IRS, arrange a payment plan, dispute the amount, or show economic hardship. If the IRS releases the levy during those 21 days, the bank returns the funds; otherwise, it hands them over on the first business day after. The IRS also maintains its own list of property exempt from levy, including unemployment benefits, workers’ compensation, certain pension payments, and a minimum exemption for wages.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6334 – Property Exempt from Levy

Your Own Bank’s Right of Offset

Your bank can take money from your deposit account to cover a delinquent loan or overdraft you owe to that same bank, without any court order or advance notice. The authority comes from your account agreement. One federal restriction cuts across this: a bank cannot offset your deposit account to pay a consumer credit card balance, even if the card is issued by the same bank.9HelpWithMyBank.gov. May a Bank Use My Deposit Account to Pay a Loan to That Bank? Auto loans, personal loans, and other non-card debts owed to the same institution are fair game. Keeping your checking account at a different bank than the one holding your loan is the practical fix.

What to Do After a Freeze

Once your account is frozen, the amount that ultimately gets taken depends almost entirely on what you do in the next few days.

  • Read the garnishment notice for deadlines the moment it arrives. State filing windows are short and start running immediately.
  • Identify which funds came from exempt sources: Social Security, veterans’ benefits, retirement income, disability payments, child support you received, or other categories your state protects.
  • File a claim of exemption with the court clerk, and send copies to the creditor or their attorney and to the bank. Most courts charge no filing fee for this.
  • Attach documentation that traces the funds: bank statements, benefit award letters, pay stubs, pension statements, deposit records.
  • If the creditor doesn’t object within the deadline set by state rules — often around eight business days — the bank must release the exempt funds. If the creditor objects, the court schedules a hearing.

The biggest mistake is doing nothing. An exemption you don’t claim is an exemption you don’t get, and money you needed for rent, food, or utilities can leave the account while you’re still deciding whether to respond. Even a garnishment that is otherwise valid may be sitting on top of exempt funds the creditor has no right to take.

For an IRS levy, the path is different. During the 21-day holding period, contact the IRS directly using the number on the levy notice to request a Collection Due Process hearing, propose an installment agreement, or show that the levy creates a hardship.7eCFR. 26 CFR 301.6332-3 – The 21-Day Holding Period Applicable to Property Held by Banks That window is short and it does not extend itself.