DocDraft Logo

Rhode Island Claim of Exemption

File a Rhode Island claim of exemption to protect wages from garnishment. Learn the Objection to Wage Attachment form, what pay is exempt, and how to object.

Introduction

A Rhode Island 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 judgment, it can serve a Notice and Motion to Attach Wages on your employer and take part of each paycheck. In Rhode Island you push back by filing the Defendant/Debtor's Objection to Wage Attachment with the clerk of the court on or before the Objection Date printed on the notice. Rhode Island protects at least 75 percent of your disposable earnings, and some income like Social Security is off limits entirely. There is no fixed number of days set by statute, so the Objection Date on your notice is the deadline that counts, and money is held while the objection is decided. DocDraft prepares a Rhode Island claim of exemption from your details, and attorney review is available before you file.

0/5000

Key Things to Know

  1. 1

    A Rhode Island claim of exemption, filed as the Defendant/Debtor's Objection to Wage Attachment, is a form you give to 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 a creditor cannot take it.

  2. 2

    The deadline is the Objection Date printed on your notice. Rhode Island does not set a fixed number of days by statute; instead, you must file your objection with the clerk on or before the Objection Date listed on the Notice and Motion to Attach Wages.

  3. 3

    Rhode Island protects more of your pay than the federal floor. Under the wage-exemption rule, if your disposable weekly earnings are more than 40 times the federal minimum wage, the first 75 percent is exempt. If they are less than 40 times, only the amount above 30 times the federal minimum wage can be attached.

  4. 4

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

  5. 5

    Money is held while the objection is decided. Because a wage attachment keeps pulling from your pay until the court resolves the objection, filing by the Objection Date and identifying every exempt source limits what you lose.

  6. 6

    You file with the court that issued the judgment. The Defendant/Debtor's Objection to Wage Attachment goes to the clerk of that court, not to the creditor, and asks the court to find the wages or funds exempt.

  7. 7

    A timely objection gets you a hearing. If you file on or before the Objection Date, the court holds a hearing on the Hearing Date listed on the notice, where you show the money is protected and the creditor must justify the attachment.

Key decisions before you file

Before you file a Claim of Exemption in Rhode Island, 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

DEFENDANT/DEBTOR'S OBJECTION TO WAGE ATTACHMENT (RHODE ISLAND - CLAIM OF EXEMPTION)

Filed under Rhode Island General Laws chapter 9-26 (including R.I. Gen. Laws 9-26-4) and chapter 10-5. The judgment debtor claims that some or all of the wages or funds being attached are exempt and asks the court to release them and to stop or reduce the attachment.

  1. COURT AND CASE Court: [COURT NAME] Clerk's office: [CLERK / LOCATION] Case number: [CASE NUMBER] Objection Date (from the Notice and Motion to Attach Wages): [OBJECTION DATE] Hearing Date (from the notice): [HEARING DATE]

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

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

  4. EXEMPTION CLAIMED I object to the wage attachment and claim that the money is exempt for the following reason(s): [ ] The wage-exemption rule protects part of my earnings (the first 75 percent of disposable earnings, or the amount above 30 times the federal minimum wage when earnings are lower). [ ] 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 hold the hearing on the Hearing Date and to protect the exempt money until the objection is decided.

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

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

Note: File this Objection to Wage Attachment with the clerk of the court that issued the judgment on or before the Objection Date printed on your Notice and Motion to Attach Wages. Confirm the current form, the Objection Date, and the Hearing Date, or have this reviewed by an attorney, before you file.

Rhode Island Requirements for Claim of Exemption

Rhode Island Filing Deadline and Office

File the Rhode Island claim of exemption with the correct office, the court or the levying officer as Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island a claim of exemption is filed as the Defendant/Debtor's Objection to Wage Attachment, a form you give to the court clerk 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, and it lets you ask for a hearing to prove the money is protected.

The Defendant/Debtor's Objection to Wage Attachment is Rhode Island's form for claiming that attached wages or funds are exempt. You file it with the clerk of the court that issued the judgment, on or before the Objection Date printed on the Notice and Motion to Attach Wages. On it you state why the money is protected and ask the court to release it and hold a hearing.

Rhode Island protects most modest paychecks. If your disposable weekly earnings are more than 40 times the federal minimum wage, the first 75 percent is exempt. If they are less than 40 times, only the amount above 30 times the federal minimum wage, which is 217.50 dollars a week, can be attached. Disposable earnings are what is left after legally required deductions.

Rhode Island does not set a fixed number of days by statute. Instead, you must file the Defendant/Debtor's Objection to Wage Attachment with the clerk on or before the Objection Date printed on the Notice and Motion to Attach Wages. Because money is held while the objection is pending, read your notice carefully and file by that date to protect your wages.

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 large share of ordinary wages is also protected under Rhode Island's wage-exemption rule. If exempt benefits are frozen in a bank account, the Objection to Wage Attachment is how you ask the court to release them.

Rhode Island does not add a separate head-of-household wage exemption, but it already protects at least 75 percent of your disposable earnings, which shields most modest paychecks. If a wage attachment would leave you unable to cover basic needs, you can explain that in your Objection to Wage Attachment and raise it at the hearing, where the court weighs your situation.

You file the Defendant/Debtor's Objection to Wage Attachment with the clerk of the court that issued the judgment. You are not filing with the creditor. Once you file on or before the Objection Date, the court schedules a hearing so a judge can decide whether the wages or funds you claim are exempt.

If you file a timely objection, the court holds a hearing on the Hearing Date listed on the Notice and Motion to Attach Wages. At the hearing you show the wages or funds are exempt, and the creditor must justify the attachment. If the court agrees the money is protected, it releases those funds and stops or reduces the attachment. If you miss the Objection Date, the attachment usually continues.