Bank account garnishment: what money can you keep?

A frozen account does not mean every dollar can legally be taken.

The answer in 2 lines. The US has no single nationwide dollar amount that every bank must leave in every garnished account. Protection depends on the source of the money, state law and the debt being collected. Certain directly deposited federal benefits receive automatic protection under a federal account-review rule. Other exemptions may require a claim. Read the notice immediately: asking your bank for help does not replace a court filing or extend its deadline.

The first steps

Save the garnishment notice and identify the creditor, court, case number and instructions for responding. Ask the bank which funds are restricted and which remain available.
Gather statements and benefit records showing where the frozen money came from. Include records for older deposits if you believe they remain exempt.
Find the exemption procedure for the state handling the case. For help locating local legal assistance, use USAGov’s legal aid page and follow its location-based search options.

Stop: danger

Do not assume everything is lost: money above the automatically protected amount may still qualify for an exemption you must claim.
Check the kind of debt: federal collection and state child-support enforcement can involve exceptions. The ordinary private-creditor explanation may not apply.
Keep the filing deadline separate: a bank complaint or phone conversation does not substitute for responding through the procedure in your notice.

What the bank protects automatically

For qualifying orders, the bank reviews the account for covered federal benefit payments directly deposited during the preceding two-month lookback period. The protected amount is generally the smaller of those qualifying deposits or the balance when the bank reviews the account. That amount must remain available.

Covered payments include Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, veterans’ benefits and certain federal retirement benefits. Read the Treasury garnishment FAQ to check the covered payment categories and how the review works. Do not assume every government payment receives this automatic treatment.

What not to do

Assuming the federal limit on paycheck garnishment automatically protects the same amount after wages enter a bank account: bank-account exemptions require a separate analysis.
Treating benefits deposited by check as automatically protected in the same way as qualifying direct deposits.
Moving money to conceal it or ignoring the underlying lawsuit: neither resolves the debt or establishes an exemption.
Sending original documents without retaining copies and proof of submission.

Claiming additional protection

State law may protect additional funds, including money needed for basic living expenses or particular income sources. Procedures and deadlines differ. Explain the source of each disputed deposit and why you believe it is exempt; a statement that you need the money may not be sufficient by itself.

California provides an example, not a nationwide procedure. Its official bank-levy guide links the Claim of Exemption and Financial Statement and explains submitting them to the levying officer. Follow that guide only if it fits your California case. Elsewhere, use the instructions from the court handling your case.

If the bank appears to have made a mistake

Ask in writing for a review of the protected amount, identifying the benefit deposits involved. The OCC account-review explanation describes the federal lookback calculation; use it to frame your questions.

For a banking-service problem, the CFPB complaint portal lets you describe what happened, upload supporting records and state the resolution you want. It does not decide your exemption claim or stop court deadlines.

Good to know

Automatic protection and broader legal exemption are different: a deposit can require a claim even when the underlying benefits are protected.
Keep enough records to trace exempt payments through the account, especially when different kinds of income are mixed.
If the notice concerns taxes, support or another government debt, get advice about that specific collection process before relying on ordinary creditor rules.

Illustrative example: Denise finds her account restricted after a creditor obtains a judgment. She asks the bank to identify its protected-benefit calculation and downloads statements showing her direct deposits. She also believes older benefit money is exempt. Instead of assuming the bank’s automatic review settles everything, she gets help checking whether she must file an additional exemption claim.

A made-up story, for illustration.

Bobby

Sources, verification, confidence

Verified on November 5, 2026, for the United States. Confidence: high for the federal benefit-review framework; medium for application to an individual account because state exemptions, debt categories and court procedures vary. The two-month figure is a legal lookback period checked in 2026, not an annually indexed allowance.