Can Debtor Living Alone Claim Head of Household Exemption From Wage Garnishment?
A divorced man has two children. One child is a financially independent adult. The other child, a minor, lives with his ex-wife. The man lives alone. The man pay child support to the ex-wife. The child support covers most of the minor child's living and education expenses. The ex-wife works and supports herself. The man asked whether a judgment creditor can garnish his wages.
A creditor cannot garnish wages of a head of household. A debtor is the head of a household if he provides most of the support of a dependent person. This debtor lives alone, and there is no dependent in his household. However, Florida cases do not strictly define "household." The dependent does not have to live with the debtor as long as the debtor is financially supporting the dependent. In this case, where the husband is supplying most of the financial support of his minor child living with the ex-wife, I think the husband could claim an exemption from wage garnishment as head of a household.
posted by Jonathan Alper, asset protection and bankruptcy lawyer, Orlando, Florida
can a wife be head of household if the husband does not work? the husband has stayed home for the past 13 years taking care of the children and continues to do so to a newborn child while the wife is the only bread winner,in a case that a credit company is trying to garnish the wifes wages for an usecured loan.