§ 1171.1 Money earned from prejudgment garnishment - Exemption.

If you earn money through wages, salary, bonus, or commission, most of that money is protected from garnishment before a court has even made a final decision in your case. This means that if someone sues you and tries to grab your paycheck before the case is settled, the law generally stops them from doing that.

There are a few exceptions. If you're going through a divorce and a court has issued a temporary support order, your wages can still be garnished for that support. Child support obligations are also treated differently under this rule.

On top of that general protection, the law says that 75% of what you've earned from personal or professional work over the last 90 days is protected from garnishment. The only time this 75% protection doesn't apply is when the garnishment is for collecting child support. So while creditors have some ability to go after a small portion of your recent earnings, most of your paycheck stays safe until child support is involved.