What Statutes Govern Garnishment in California?
Full Question:
Answer:
Please see the full text of the statutes you cited below:
703.080. (a) Subject to any limitation provided in the particular
exemption, a fund that is exempt remains exempt to the extent that it
can be traced into deposit accounts or in the form of cash or its
equivalent.
(b) The exemption claimant has the burden of tracing an exempt
fund.
(c) The tracing of exempt funds in a deposit account shall be by
application of the lowest intermediate balance principle unless the
exemption claimant or the judgment creditor shows that some other
method of tracing would better serve the interests of justice and
equity under the circumstances of the case.
706.010. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Wage
Garnishment Law."
706.011. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Earnings" means compensation payable by an employer to an
employee for personal services performed by such employee, whether
denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus, or otherwise.
(b) "Earnings assignment order for support" means an order, made
pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 5200) of Part 5 of
Division 9 of the Family Code or Section 3088 of the Probate Code,
which requires an employer to withhold earnings for support.
(c) "Employee" means a public officer and any individual who
performs services subject to the right of the employer to control
both what shall be done and how it shall be done.
(d) "Employer" means a person for whom an individual performs
services as an employee.
(e) "Judgment creditor," as applied to the state, means the
specific state agency seeking to collect a judgment or tax liability.
(f) "Judgment debtor" includes a person from whom the state is
seeking to collect a tax liability under Article 4 (commencing with
Section 706.070), whether or not a judgment has been obtained on such
tax liability.
(g) "Person" includes an individual, a corporation, a partnership
or other unincorporated association, a limited liability company, and
a public entity.
706.011. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Earnings" means compensation payable by an employer to an
employee for personal services performed by such employee, whether
denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus, or otherwise.
(b) "Earnings withholding order for elder or dependent adult
financial abuse" means an earnings withholding order, made pursuant
to Article 5 (commencing with Section 706.100) and based on a money
judgment in an action for elder or adult dependent financial abuse
under Section 15657.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(c) "Earnings assignment order for support" means an order, made
pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 5200) of Part 5 of
Division 9 of the Family Code or Section 3088 of the Probate Code,
which requires an employer to withhold earnings for support.
(d) "Employee" means a public officer and any individual who
performs services subject to the right of the employer to control
both what shall be done and how it shall be done.
(e) "Employer" means a person for whom an individual performs
services as an employee.
(f) "Judgment creditor," as applied to the state, means the
specific state agency seeking to collect a judgment or tax liability.
(g) "Judgment debtor" includes a person from whom the state is
seeking to collect a tax liability under Article 4 (commencing with
Section 706.070), whether or not a judgment has been obtained on such
tax liability.
(h) "Person" includes an individual, a corporation, a partnership
or other unincorporated association, a limited liability company, and
a public entity.
704.070. (a) As used in this section:
(1) "Earnings withholding order" means an earnings withholding
order under Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 706.010) (Wage
Garnishment Law).
(2) "Paid earnings" means earnings as defined in Section 706.011
that were paid to the employee during the 30-day period ending on the
date of the levy. For the purposes of this paragraph, where earnings
that have been paid to the employee are sought to be subjected to
the enforcement of a money judgment other than by a levy, the date of
levy is deemed to be the date the earnings were otherwise subjected
to the enforcement of the judgment.
(3) "Earnings assignment order for support" means an earnings
assignment order for support as defined in Section 706.011.
(b) Paid earnings that can be traced into deposit accounts or in
the form of cash or its equivalent as provided in Section 703.080 are
exempt in the following amounts:
(1) All of the paid earnings are exempt if prior to payment to the
employee they were subject to an earnings withholding order or an
earnings assignment order for support.
(2) Seventy-five percent of the paid earnings that are levied upon
or otherwise sought to be subjected to the enforcement of a money
judgment are exempt if prior to payment to the employee they were not
subject to an earnings withholding order or an earnings assignment
order for support.
