Head of Family

• Florida state law affords special protection from wage garnishments to residents who are legally considered a head of family. The law specifies that a head of family provides at least 50 per cent of the financial support of a legal dependent. This can be a child, spouse, parent or other legal dependent. The dependent does not have to reside with the debtor. The head of family has to be a natural person and thus can not be claimed by a charity or any other kind of organization.
  
  

Garnishment Restrictions

• If the debtor is a recognized head of family who earns up to $750 per week, then state law makes that debtor's income exempt from wage garnishment. The law specifies net income as the measurement standard. Amounts over this $750 per week can be garnished only by the voluntary consent of the debtor. Such consent must be documented by an official written statement in a form stipulated by the statute and signed by the debtor and creditor. The amount of garnishment cannot exceed the federal regulations even with this consent.
  
  

Special Provisions

• The state law applies only to persons who are legally considered permanent residents of Florida. Legal residents of other states who are only seasonal residents are not covered. If the debt in question legally belongs to a married couple, only one of them can claim to be a head of family. The statute also protects all exempt wages that have been deposited into a bank account for six months after they were deposited. This holds true even if they were commingled with other funds.
  
  

Federal Regulations

• The Florida statute specifies that Florida debtors who are not heads of family are to be covered by Federal law regarding wage garnishments. The federal law limits the amount of wage garnishment to 25 percent of the debtor's weekly net earnings or the amount of the weekly net earnings that exceeds thirty times the weekly minimum wage, whichever is less. These restrictions do not apply to debts owed to the government or for child support payments.