Oklahoma Claim of Exemption
File an Oklahoma claim of exemption to stop wage garnishment. Learn the 75 percent wage rule, the 5-day deadline, and the family hardship exemption.
Introduction
An Oklahoma claim of exemption is a form you file 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 garnishment on your employer or bank and pull money that would otherwise reach you. A claim of exemption is how you push back: you file a Claim for Exemption and Request for Hearing with the court clerk and ask the court to protect the money. The deadline is short. You have 5 days from receiving the notice of garnishment to file. Oklahoma protects 75 percent of your recent earnings, and if you support a family, you can ask the court to protect even more through a hardship hearing. Money is held while your claim is decided, so act quickly. DocDraft prepares an Oklahoma claim of exemption from your details, and attorney review is available before you file.
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Key Things to Know
- 1
An Oklahoma claim of exemption is a Claim for Exemption and Request for Hearing you file with the court clerk 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 only 5 days to file. Under Okla. Stat. tit. 12 section 1174 you must file your claim with the court clerk within five days from receiving the notice of garnishment to request a hearing, so read the papers as soon as they arrive.
- 3
Oklahoma protects 75 percent of recent earnings. Under Okla. Stat. tit. 31 section 1, 75 percent of your current wages or earnings for personal or professional services earned during the last 90 days are exempt from garnishment.
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Consumer-debt garnishment follows the federal formula. For a consumer credit debt, the exemption is the greater of 75 percent of your disposable earnings for the week or the amount by which those earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage.
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Supporting a family can protect even more. If you support a family or other dependents, you can file an application for an undue hardship hearing and ask the court to exempt a greater portion of your earnings needed to maintain your family.
- 6
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.
- 7
Filing gets you a hearing. After you file the Claim for Exemption and Request for Hearing, the court clerk sets the matter for a hearing and notifies the parties, where you show the money is protected.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Claim of Exemption in Oklahoma, 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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Oklahoma Requirements for Claim of Exemption
Oklahoma Filing Deadline and Office
File the Oklahoma claim of exemption with the correct office, the court or the levying officer as Oklahoma 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.