How to Claim Personal Property Exemptions

Yes, you should read this if you are sued on a debt in a Washington state court and you lose. The court will enter a money judgment against you.  The plaintiff - also known as the creditor or judgment creditor - can collect on the judgment. 

Even if there is a judgment against you, some or all your personal property may be protected (it may be exempt) from creditors. That means it cannot be taken to collect on a judgment (to satisfy a judgment) against you.

These exemptions may not protect you from:

• Collection for child support debts.

• Tax debts.

• Certain types of insurance claims by the State.

• Judgments for any part of the sale price of the personal property.

• Collection for federal student loan debts.

Something you own (called your property) is exempt if a creditor cannot legally take it to collect on a judgment against you.

The main exemptions are:

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits

• Social Security Disability, Retirement and Survivor benefits

• Veterans benefits

• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits

• Aged, Blind, or Disabled (ABD) benefits

• Unemployment benefits

• Child support you receive

• Federal student loans

• Retirement pensions

• Workers compensation

• The home you live in. Your home is exempt if you have up to $125,000 equity in your home or you can claim the median sale price of a single-family home in your county the previous calendar year, if that is more than $125,000.  Equity is the amount of money you would keep after you sold your home and paid off the mortgage and other liens. You can find the median sale price of homes in your county at wcrer.be.uw.edu/archived-reports.

• Money in your bank account

  • • $2,500 is exempt if your only judgment is for private student loan debt

    • $2,000 is exempt if the judgment you are being garnished for is consumer debt (see below)

    • $500 in your bank account is exempt for all other debts (plus $1,000 cash, for a total exemption of $1,500)

Automatic Exemption: Even though some or all the money in your account may be exempt from garnishment, the bank may not take the money from your account above these amounts:

• • $1,000 is automatically exempt if your only judgment is for private student loan debt

  • $1,000 is automatically exempt if the judgment you are being garnished for is consumer debt

  • $500 in your bank account is exempt for all other debts (and $1,000 additional cash, for a total exemption of up to $1,500)

• Wages (pay from your job) — The amount of exempt wages depends on how much you earn and what the judgment was for.

1. Consumer judgments (for consumer debt)

If you earn less than any of these amounts, all your wages are exempt:

• • $569.80 weekly (35x the state minimum hourly wage)

  • $1,139.60 every 2 weeks

  • $1,234.57 twice a month

  • $2,469.13 monthly

Even if you earn more than these amounts, you can keep 35x the state minimum hourly wage or 80% of your net pay, whichever is more. Net pay is your earnings after subtracting mandatory deductions.  Mandatory deductions include Social Security, Medicare, and federal income taxes.

2. Private student loan judgments

If you earn less than any of these amounts and your only judgment is for a private student loan, all your wages are exempt.

• • $953.00 weekly (50x the highest minimum hourly wage in the state)

  • $1,906.00 every 2 weeks

  • $2,064.83 twice a month

  • $4,129.66 monthly

Even if you earn more than these amounts, you may still keep 50x the highest minimum hourly wage in the State or 85% of your net pay, whichever is more

3. Other judgments (not consumer or private loan judgments)

If you earn less than any of these amounts, all of your wages are exempt.

• $253.75 weekly

• $507.50 every 2 weeks

• $549.79 twice a month

• $1,099.58 monthly

Even if you earn more than these amounts, you may still keep 35x the federal minimum wage or 75% of your net pay, whichever is more.

• Clothing and jewelry —up to $3,500 in value.

• Books and digital media—up to $3,500 in value.

• All "professionally prescribed health aids" for you and your dependents. Examples: wheelchairs and motorized scooters, if your doctor wrote a note or prescription for them.

• Household goods, appliances, furniture, food/groceries (provisions), and fuel, up to $6,500 in value for one person. No one thing can be more than $750.

• Equity in one motor vehicle used for personal transportation, valued at up to $15,000.

• Tools and instruments needed for your trade, up to $15,000 in value.

• Money paid or owed to you for bodily injury (not including for pain & suffering or money you lost) of yourself or dependents, up to $20,000.

• Compensation for lost future earnings, to the extent reasonably necessary to support you and your dependents.

In the case of married persons or registered domestic partners, each spouse/partner is entitled to the exemptions of personal property, which may be combined with the other spouse's exemption in the same property.

Its value is what it would sell for (its fair market value) at the time you claim it as exempt.

If a third party, like a bank or employer, has your property, including money in a bank account, the creditor can go to court and get a "writ of garnishment" (formal written order of garnishment) that goes to the third party. The creditor must mail or serve on you both of these:

1. WPF GARN 01.0450: "Notice of Garnishment and of Your Rights "

2. WPF GARN 01.0500: "Exemption Claim (Writ to garnish funds or property held by a financial institution)" OR

3. WPF GARN 01.0520: "Exemption Claim (Writ directed to employer to garnish earnings)"

For Ms Word versions of these forms, visit the Washington State Court's website.

If you get the writ within 7 days of the date of its issuance, you must fill out form #2 or #3 and hand-deliver one (1) copy to the court clerk and mail or hand-deliver one (1) to the creditor or creditor's lawyer (whoever signed the writ of garnishment), within 28 days after the date on the writ of garnishment.

Use form #3 only if the writ went to your employer to garnish your pay. Otherwise, use form #2.

If the creditor serves the writ more than 7 days from the date of the writ's issuance, you have 21 days to fill out form #2 or #3 and mail or hand-deliver one (1) copy to the court clerk and mail or hand-deliver one (1) to the creditor or their lawyer. You can read the state law about this at RCW 6.27.160 (1).

The creditor has 7 days after getting your exemption claim form to object to it.

If the creditor does not object, the creditor must direct the garnishee to give back (release) the exempt property to you no more than 10 days after the creditor gets your claim form.

If the creditor objects, they must file a statement explaining why and schedule a court hearing within 14 days after getting your exemption claim form.