Kansas Claim of Exemption
File a Kansas claim of exemption to protect wages from garnishment. Learn the 14-day hearing request, what pay is exempt, and how to stop or reduce a garnishment.
Introduction
A Kansas claim of exemption is a request you file with the court to protect some or all of your wages or bank funds from a garnishment. An exemption is money the law says a creditor cannot take. After a creditor wins a money judgment, it can serve a notice of garnishment on your employer and pull a share of every paycheck. In Kansas you assert your exemption by filing a request for a hearing within 14 days after the notice of garnishment is served on you. Kansas caps garnishment at the federal level, so a baseline share of your earnings is protected, and income like Social Security stays off limits. One rule helps you: a creditor who bought your debt cannot garnish wages, only the original creditor can. Because money is withheld while your claim is pending, act quickly. DocDraft prepares a Kansas claim of exemption from your details, and attorney review is available before you file.
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Key Things to Know
- 1
A Kansas claim of exemption is a request you file with the court to protect some or all of your wages or bank funds from garnishment. It tells the court the money is exempt, meaning the law does not let a creditor take it.
- 2
You have 14 days to act. Under Kansas Statutes section 61-3508(b), you must file a request for a hearing to claim any exemption no later than 14 days after the notice of garnishment is served on you.
- 3
Kansas caps wage garnishment at the federal level. Under section 60-2310(b) a creditor can take no more than the lesser of 25 percent of your weekly disposable earnings, or the amount by which those earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage.
- 4
Who holds the debt matters in Kansas. A creditor that bought your account cannot garnish your wages at all; only the original creditor may garnish earnings, so check who is behind the garnishment.
- 5
Some income is exempt no matter the debt. Social Security, disability, veterans benefits, and many pensions and public benefits are protected, and a claim of exemption is how you free those funds if a bank has frozen them.
- 6
Money is withheld while your claim is pending. Because each paycheck is garnished until the court resolves the claim, filing your request for a hearing quickly limits what you lose.
- 7
Filing gets you a hearing. Once you file your request, the court must hold the hearing no sooner than 7 days and no later than 14 days after, where you show the money is protected and the creditor must justify the garnishment.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Claim of Exemption in Kansas, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Claim of Exemption guide walks through them.
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Kansas Requirements for Claim of Exemption
Kansas Filing Deadline and Office
File the Kansas claim of exemption with the correct office, the court or the levying officer as Kansas directs, within the state's window after the garnishment is served. Money is usually held until the claim is decided, so filing late can forfeit wages the law would otherwise protect.