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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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

Open the Claim of Exemption guide

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CLAIM OF EXEMPTION / REQUEST FOR HEARING (KANSAS - WAGE GARNISHMENT)

Filed under Kansas Statutes Annotated sections 60-2310 and 61-3508. The judgment debtor claims that some or all of the wages or funds being garnished are exempt and requests a hearing to release them.

  1. COURT AND CASE Court that issued the garnishment: [COURT NAME] Case number: [CASE NUMBER] Notice of garnishment number: [GARNISHMENT NUMBER, IF ANY] Date the notice of garnishment was served on me: [DATE SERVED]

  2. PARTIES Judgment creditor: [CREDITOR NAME] Judgment debtor (you): [DEBTOR NAME] Debtor address: [DEBTOR ADDRESS] Employer served with the garnishment: [EMPLOYER NAME]

  3. EXEMPTION CLAIMED I claim that the money is exempt for the following reason(s): [ ] The wage-garnishment limit under K.S.A. 60-2310(b) protects part of my earnings (the lesser of 25 percent of weekly disposable earnings, or the amount above 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage). [ ] The creditor is not the original creditor and is barred from garnishing my wages. [ ] The funds come from an exempt source: [SOCIAL SECURITY / DISABILITY / VETERANS BENEFITS / PENSION / OTHER]. Amount I ask the court to protect: $[AMOUNT CLAIMED EXEMPT]

  4. SOURCE OF THE FUNDS Describe where the money comes from: [DESCRIPTION OF WAGES OR DEPOSITED FUNDS]

  5. FINANCIAL STATEMENT (attach if the court requires one) Monthly take-home income: $[INCOME] Monthly necessary expenses: $[EXPENSES] Number of people I support: [NUMBER OF DEPENDENTS]

  6. REQUEST FOR HEARING I request a hearing on this claim of exemption. Kansas requires the court to hold the hearing no sooner than 7 days and no later than 14 days after this request is filed. I ask the court to protect the exempt money until the hearing is held.

  7. VERIFICATION I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Kansas that the statements above are true and correct.

Debtor signature: [SIGNATURE] Printed name: [NAME] Date: [DATE]

Note: File this request for a hearing with the court that issued the notice of garnishment no later than 14 days after the notice was served on you (K.S.A. 61-3508(b)). Confirm the current form and procedure with that court, or have this reviewed by an attorney, before you file.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

A Kansas claim of exemption is a request you file with the court to protect wages or bank funds from a garnishment. It tells the court that some or all of the money is exempt, meaning the law does not let a creditor take it. In Kansas you raise it by filing a request for a hearing within 14 days after the notice of garnishment is served.

An objection challenges whether the garnishment itself is proper, such as a wrong amount, the wrong person, or a defective notice. A claim of exemption accepts that the debt exists but says the specific wages or funds are legally protected. In Kansas you file a request for a hearing to raise your exemption, and you can point out a defect in the garnishment at the same time.

Under Kansas Statutes section 60-2310(b) a creditor can take 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, which is 217.50 dollars. Disposable earnings are what is left after legally required deductions. Kansas follows the federal limit, so more of your pay is protected than the raw percentage suggests.

In Kansas you must file a request for a hearing to claim an exemption no later than 14 days after the notice of garnishment is served on you, under section 61-3508(b). The window is short and money is withheld while it runs, so file as soon as you learn of the garnishment. Missing the deadline can forfeit wages the law would have protected.

Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, disability, veterans benefits, and many pensions and public benefits are exempt from garnishment for ordinary debts, no matter how much you owe. A baseline share of ordinary wages is also protected under the Kansas wage cap. If exempt benefits are frozen in a bank account, a claim of exemption is how you get them released.

Kansas does not add a separate head-of-household exemption on top of the wage cap the way some states do. Your earnings are protected at the federal level, the lesser of 25 percent of disposable wages or the amount above 30 times the federal minimum wage. If money you need for support comes from an exempt source like Social Security, you can claim that at your hearing.

You file your request for a hearing to claim the exemption with the court that issued the garnishment order. The clerk then sets a hearing, and Kansas requires the court to hold it no sooner than 7 days and no later than 14 days after you file. Bring proof of your income and of any exempt sources of the money.

The court sets a hearing, to be held between 7 and 14 days after you file your request. At the hearing you show that the wages or funds are exempt, and the creditor must justify the garnishment. If the court agrees the money is protected, it releases those funds and stops or reduces the garnishment. Until then, the garnished money is generally held.