Virginia Claim of Exemption
File a Virginia claim of exemption to protect wages from garnishment. Learn the DC-454 Request for Hearing, the homestead exemption, and what pay is protected.
Introduction
A Virginia 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 serves a garnishment summons on your employer to reach part of your pay. In Virginia the basic wage protection is automatic: your employer calculates it and can withhold only what the law allows. You file a claim, the Request for Hearing form DC-454, with the clerk of the court that issued the summons to dispute the amount or claim the homestead exemption. You must file before or upon the return date printed on the summons. Virginia protects the greater of 75 percent of your weekly disposable earnings or the amount above 40 times the minimum wage, and exempt income like Social Security is off limits. DocDraft prepares a Virginia claim of exemption from your details, and attorney review is available before you file.
0/5000
Key Things to Know
- 1
A Virginia claim of exemption is how you tell the court that some or all of the wages or funds being garnished are exempt, meaning the law does not let a creditor take them. In Virginia you raise it on the Request for Hearing, form DC-454.
- 2
You file before or upon the return date. Under Va. Code section 34-17 you can file your claim after the garnishment summons is served on your employer, but you must do so before or upon the return date printed on the summons, so do not wait.
- 3
Virginia protects most of your pay. Under Va. Code section 34-29 the exempt amount is the greater of 75 percent of your weekly disposable earnings, or the amount by which those earnings exceed 40 times the greater of the federal or Virginia minimum hourly wage.
- 4
The basic wage exemption is automatic. Your employer calculates the protected share, so you mainly file the DC-454 to dispute the amount being withheld or to claim additional protections the employer does not apply on its own.
- 5
The homestead exemption can shield more. Virginia lets a debtor claim a homestead exemption to protect additional garnished wages or funds, and the DC-454 is how you assert it with the court.
- 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 prompt hearing. You have a right to a hearing within seven business days from the date you file the claim with the clerk of the court that issued the garnishment summons.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Claim of Exemption in Virginia, 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 guideCustomize your Claim of Exemption Template with DocDraft
Virginia Requirements for Claim of Exemption
Virginia Filing Deadline and Office
File the Virginia claim of exemption with the correct office, the court or the levying officer as Virginia 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.