Michigan Claim of Exemption
File a Michigan claim of exemption to protect wages from garnishment. Learn the MC 49 objection, the 14-day deadline, and what income is exempt.
Introduction
A Michigan 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 writ of garnishment on your employer and pull a share of every paycheck. In Michigan you assert your exemption by filing an Objections to Garnishment form, MC 49, with the court that signed the writ, and you have 14 days from the date you are served to do it. Michigan follows the federal wage limit, so a baseline share of your earnings is protected, and income like Social Security stays off limits no matter the debt. Because money is withheld while your objection is pending, act quickly. DocDraft prepares a Michigan claim of exemption from your details, and attorney review is available before you file.
Key Things to Know
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A Michigan 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.
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You have 14 days to act. Under Michigan Court Rule 3.101(K) you must file your objections within 14 days of being served with the writ of garnishment, using the Objections to Garnishment form, MC 49.
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Michigan follows the federal wage limit. Under MCL 600.4031 the exempt amount is the greater of 75 percent of your weekly disposable earnings, or the amount by which they exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage, so a creditor can reach only the rest.
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You raise the exemption on the MC 49 form. Michigan combines the objection and the exemption claim on the Objections to Garnishment and Notice of Hearing form, filed with the court that signed the writ.
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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.
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Money is withheld while your objection is pending. Because each paycheck is garnished until the court resolves the objection, filing your MC 49 quickly limits what you lose.
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Filing gets you a hearing. After you file the objection, the court sets a hearing, which must be within 21 days of the date you file, 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 Michigan, 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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Michigan Requirements for Claim of Exemption
File the Michigan claim of exemption with the correct office, the court or the levying officer as Michigan 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 Michigan 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 Michigan you raise it by filing the Objections to Garnishment form, MC 49, with the court that signed the writ within 14 days of being served.
An objection challenges whether the garnishment itself is proper, such as a wrong amount, the wrong person, or a defective writ. A claim of exemption says the specific wages or funds are legally protected even though the debt exists. In Michigan the MC 49 Objections to Garnishment form covers both, so you can raise a defect and an exemption on the same form.
Under MCL 600.4031 Michigan follows the federal limit. The exempt amount is the greater of 75 percent of your weekly disposable earnings, or the amount by which they exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage, which is 217.50 dollars. A creditor can reach only what is left. Disposable earnings are what remains after legally required deductions.
In Michigan you have 14 days from the date you are served with the writ of garnishment to file your Objections to Garnishment, form MC 49, under Michigan Court Rule 3.101(K). 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 Michigan wage limit. If exempt benefits are frozen in a bank account, a claim of exemption is how you get them released.
Michigan does not add a separate head-of-household exemption on top of the wage limit the way some states do. Your earnings are protected at the federal level, the greater of 75 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 MC 49 objection.
You file the Objections to Garnishment form, MC 49, with the same court that signed the writ of garnishment. The court then sets a hearing on your objection. Bring proof of your income and of any exempt sources of the money so you can show at the hearing that the wages or funds are protected.
After you file the MC 49 objection, the court sets a hearing, which must be held within 21 days of the date you file. 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, money generally keeps being withheld.