Kentucky Claim of Exemption

A Kentucky 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 Kentucky you raise it by filing an Affidavit to Challenge Garnishment at the Circuit Clerk's office within 13 days of the payroll check the money was withheld from.

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 Kentucky the Affidavit to Challenge Garnishment is how you raise your exemption, and you can point out a defect in the garnishment at the same time.

Under Kentucky Revised Statutes section 427.010(2) 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. Kentucky follows the federal limit, so more of your pay is protected than the raw percentage suggests.

In Kentucky you have 13 days from the date on the payroll check the money was withheld from to file an Affidavit to Challenge Garnishment at the Circuit Clerk's office. The window is short and money comes out of each check 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 Kentucky wage cap. If exempt benefits are frozen in a bank account, a claim of exemption is how you get them released.

Kentucky 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 on your affidavit and at your hearing.

You file the Affidavit to Challenge Garnishment at the Circuit Clerk's office that issued the garnishment. The clerk keeps the original and gives you a copy, then sets a hearing for you to appear. Bring proof of your income and of any exempt sources of the money to show the wages are protected.