DocDraft Logo

Oregon Claim of Exemption

File an Oregon claim of exemption to protect wages from garnishment. Learn the Challenge to Garnishment form, the 120-day window, and what income is exempt.

Introduction

An Oregon claim of exemption is a request 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 judgment, it can serve a writ of garnishment on your employer or bank and pull money from what you have. In Oregon you push back with the Challenge to Garnishment form. If you want to claim wages or salary as exempt, you have 120 days after you receive the Notice of Exempt Property to mail or deliver that form to the court administrator shown on the writ. Oregon protects the greater of 75 percent of your disposable earnings or a set weekly minimum, and some income like Social Security is off limits entirely. Money can be held while the challenge is decided, so act quickly. DocDraft prepares an Oregon claim of exemption from your details, and attorney review is available before you file.

0/5000

Key Things to Know

  1. 1

    An Oregon claim of exemption, filed as the Challenge to Garnishment, is a form you send to the court to protect some or all of your wages or bank funds from garnishment. It tells the court the money is exempt, meaning a creditor cannot take it.

  2. 2

    To claim wages or salary as exempt, you have 120 days after you receive the Notice of Exempt Property to mail or deliver the Challenge to Garnishment form. This challenge window for wages is unusually long compared with most states.

  3. 3

    Oregon protects more of your pay than the federal floor. Under ORS 18.385 the exempt amount is the greater of 75 percent of your disposable earnings or a set weekly minimum, which is 400 dollars a week for pay periods from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027.

  4. 4

    The deadline is much shorter for a bank account. If a creditor garnishes property other than wages, such as funds in your account, you generally have only 30 days after you receive the notice to challenge it, so do not wait.

  5. 5

    Some income is exempt no matter the debt. Social Security, disability, veterans benefits, and many pensions and public benefits are protected, and the Challenge to Garnishment is how you free those funds if a bank has frozen them.

  6. 6

    Money can be held while your challenge is pending. Because a garnishment keeps pulling from your pay or account until the court resolves the challenge, filing quickly limits what you lose.

  7. 7

    Filing gets you a prompt hearing. When you file the Challenge to Garnishment, the court administrator sets a hearing date right away, and the creditor has to justify keeping the money you say is exempt.

Key decisions before you file

Before you file a Claim of Exemption in Oregon, 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

Customize your Claim of Exemption Template with DocDraft

CHALLENGE TO GARNISHMENT (OREGON - CLAIM OF EXEMPTION)

Filed under Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 18 (ORS 18.375 et seq.), including ORS 18.385 and ORS 18.845. The judgment debtor claims that some or all of the wages or funds being garnished are exempt and asks the court to release them and to stop or reduce the garnishment.

  1. COURT AND CASE Court: [COURT NAME] Court administrator address (from the writ of garnishment): [ADDRESS ON WRIT] Case number: [CASE NUMBER] Writ of garnishment number: [WRIT NUMBER, IF ANY]

  2. PARTIES Judgment creditor: [CREDITOR NAME] Judgment debtor (you): [DEBTOR NAME] Debtor address: [DEBTOR ADDRESS]

  3. WHAT IS BEING GARNISHED [ ] Wages or salary from my employer: [EMPLOYER NAME] [ ] Funds in my account at: [BANK NAME] Approximate amount being taken: $[AMOUNT]

  4. EXEMPTION CLAIMED I claim that the money is exempt for the following reason(s): [ ] The wage-exemption limit under ORS 18.385 protects part of my earnings (the greater of 75 percent of disposable earnings or the current weekly minimum). [ ] The money comes from an exempt source: [SOCIAL SECURITY / DISABILITY / VETERANS BENEFITS / PENSION / OTHER]. [ ] Taking this money would leave me unable to pay for basic necessities. Amount I ask the court to protect: $[AMOUNT CLAIMED EXEMPT]

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

  6. 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]

  7. REQUEST FOR HEARING I ask the court to set a hearing on this challenge and to protect the exempt money until the hearing is held.

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

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

Note: To claim wages or salary as exempt, mail or deliver the Challenge to Garnishment to the court administrator at the address shown on the writ within 120 days after you receive the Notice of Exempt Property. The deadline for other property, such as a bank account, is much shorter. Confirm the current form and deadlines, or have this reviewed by an attorney, before you file.

Oregon Requirements for Claim of Exemption

Oregon Filing Deadline and Office

File the Oregon claim of exemption with the correct office, the court or the levying officer as Oregon 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

In Oregon a claim of exemption is filed as the Challenge to Garnishment, a form you send to the court administrator 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. Filing it lets you ask for a hearing to show the money is protected.

The Challenge to Garnishment is Oregon's form for claiming that garnished wages or funds are exempt. You mail or deliver it to the court administrator at the address shown on the writ of garnishment. On it you identify the money being taken, state why it is protected under Oregon law, and ask the court to release it and set a hearing.

Under ORS 18.385 Oregon exempts the greater of 75 percent of your disposable earnings or a set weekly minimum, which is 400 dollars a week for pay periods from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. Disposable earnings are what is left after legally required deductions. A creditor can reach only what remains above that protected amount, so Oregon shields more of your pay than the federal limit does.

For wages or salary, you have 120 days after you receive the Notice of Exempt Property to mail or deliver the Challenge to Garnishment form. That window is long, but the garnishment keeps pulling from your pay in the meantime, so file early. If a bank account or other property is garnished, the window is much shorter, generally 30 days.

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 share of ordinary wages is also protected under ORS 18.385. If exempt benefits are frozen in a bank account, the Challenge to Garnishment is how you ask the court to release them.

Oregon does not add a separate head-of-household wage exemption, but it already shields the greater of 75 percent of your disposable earnings or a set weekly minimum, which protects most modest paychecks. If a garnishment would leave you unable to cover basic needs, you can explain that on the Challenge to Garnishment and raise it at the hearing, where the court weighs your situation.

You mail or deliver the Challenge to Garnishment form to the court administrator at the address shown on the writ of garnishment. You are not filing with the creditor. Once the court administrator receives your challenge, it sets a hearing date so a judge can decide whether the wages or funds you claim are exempt.

After you file the Challenge to Garnishment, the court administrator sets a hearing date right away. At the hearing you show that the wages or funds are exempt, and the creditor must justify keeping them. If the court agrees the money is protected, it releases those funds and stops or reduces the garnishment. If you miss the deadline, the garnishment usually continues.