Your paycheck or bank account is being seized after a judgment. Find — for your state — what's exempt, the claim-of-exemption form, the (short) objection deadline, and how to release frozen Social Security/SSI/VA. Verified 2026-06-25.
This is POST-judgment collection defense (a creditor already won and is garnishing). If you're before a judgment and want to dispute the debt itself, see DisputeForge (debt-validation & credit-report disputes).
These income sources are exempt from ordinary-creditor garnishment no matter your state. The recurring problem: the bank freezes the whole account anyway, and you must prove the funds are protected to get them released.
| Protected source | Federal law |
|---|---|
| Social Security (retirement & survivors) Exempt from ordinary-creditor garnishment, including after deposit into a bank account, as long as the funds are traceable. | 42 U.S.C. § 407(a) |
| Supplemental Security Income (SSI) SSI is fully protected. SSI in a bank account is exempt — but banks routinely freeze it anyway; you may have to file to get it released. | 42 U.S.C. § 1383(d)(1) |
| Social Security Disability (SSDI) Same protection as Social Security retirement. | 42 U.S.C. § 407(a) |
| Veterans (VA) benefits VA disability and pension benefits are exempt from creditor claims. | 38 U.S.C. § 5301(a) |
| Federal civil-service & military retirement Generally exempt from ordinary creditors (different rules apply for child/spousal support). | 5 U.S.C. § 8346; 10 U.S.C. § 1440 |
| Railroad Retirement benefits Exempt from creditor garnishment. | 45 U.S.C. § 231m |
| Federal student aid (some) Federal student-loan collection itself follows separate administrative-wage-garnishment rules (capped at 15%), with its own hearing rights. | 20 U.S.C. § 1095a |
When a bank gets a garnishment order, federal rule REQUIRES it to look back 2 months and automatically protect federal benefit payments (Social Security, SSI, SSDI, VA, federal retirement, railroad retirement) that were directly deposited — without you filing anything. The protected amount stays accessible.
The gap: The auto-protection only covers DIRECTLY-DEPOSITED federal benefits within the 2-month lookback. Benefits beyond 2 months of accumulation, benefits received by check then deposited, or funds commingled with non-exempt money are NOT auto-protected — for those you must file a claim of exemption to get the freeze lifted.
Filing bankruptcy triggers an automatic stay the instant the petition is filed — it legally STOPS most wage garnishments and bank levies immediately, before any hearing. It can also let you recover certain amounts garnished in the 90 days before filing (preference). This is a powerful but consequential step with long-term credit and asset effects.
Whether bankruptcy is the right lever (and Chapter 7 vs 13) depends on your whole financial picture, your assets, and your exemptions. This is exactly the decision to take to a bankruptcy attorney — do NOT decide it from a web page.