Minn. Stat. § 571.912
FORM OF NOTICE, INSTRUCTIONS, AND EXEMPTION NOTICE.
Redline — January 1, 2008 → current.View current text →
Current — January 1, 2009
As of January 1, 2008
Subdivision 1. Form of notice.
The notice informing a debtor that an order for attachment, garnishment summons, or levy by execution has been used to attach funds of the debtor to satisfy a claim must be substantially in the following form:
The notice, instructions, and exemption notice informing a debtor that a garnishment summons has been used to attach funds of the debtor to satisfy a claim must be a separate notice and must be substantially in the following form:
An order for attachment, garnishment summons, or levy of execution (strike inapplicable language) has been served on ............ (bank or other financial institution) ............... where you have an account.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
YOUR FUNDS HAVE BEEN GARNISHED
The Creditor has frozen money in your account at your financial institution.
Your account balance is $..................
Your account balance is $.......
The amount being held is $.................
The amount being held is $.......
However, all or a portion of the funds in your account will normally be exempt from creditors' claims if they are in one of the following categories:
(1) relief based on need. This includes the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), Emergency Assistance (EA), Work First Program, Medical Assistance (MA), General Assistance (GA), General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC), Emergency General Assistance (EGA), Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA), MSA Emergency Assistance (MSA-EA), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Energy Assistance;
(2) Social Security benefits (Old Age, Survivors, or Disability Insurance);
(3) unemployment benefits, workers' compensation, or veterans' benefits;
(4) an accident, disability, or retirement pension or annuity;
(5) life insurance proceeds;
(6) the earnings of your minor child and any child support paid to you; or
(7) money from a claim for damage or destruction of exempt property (such as household goods, farm tools, business equipment, a mobile home, or a car).
The following funds are also exempt:
(8) all earnings of a person in category (1);
(9) all earnings of a person who has received relief based on need, or who has been an inmate of a correctional institution, within the last six months;
(10) 75 percent of every debtor's after tax earnings; and
(11) all of a debtor's after tax earnings below 40 times the federal minimum wage.
TIME LIMIT ON EXEMPTIONS AFTER DEPOSIT IN BANK:
Categories (10) and (11): 20 days
Categories (8) and (9): 60 days
All others: no time limit, as long as funds are traceable to the exempt source. (In tracing funds, the first-in, first-out method is used. This means money deposited first is spent first.) The money being sought by the creditor is being held in your account to give you a chance to claim an exemption.
TO CLAIM AN EXEMPTION:
Fill out, sign, and mail or deliver one copy of the attached exemption claim form to the institution which sent you this notice and mail or deliver one copy to the creditor's attorney. In the event that there is no attorney for the creditor, then such notice shall be sent directly to the creditor. The address for the creditor's attorney or the creditor is set forth below. Both copies must be mailed or delivered on the same day.
NOTE: You may help resolve your claim faster if you send to the creditor's attorney written proof or documents that show why your money is exempt. If you have questions regarding the documents to send as proof of an exemption, call the creditor's attorney. If you do not send written proof and the creditor's attorney has questions about your exemption claim, the creditor's attorney may object to your claim which may result in a further delay in releasing your exempt funds.
If they do not get the exemption claim back from you within 14 days of the date they mailed or gave it to you, they will be free to turn the money over to the sheriff or the creditor. If you are going to claim an exemption, do so as soon as possible, because your money may be held until it is decided.
IF YOU CLAIM AN EXEMPTION:
The amount being held will be frozen for 14 days from the date of this notice.
Some of your money in your account may be protected (the legal word is exempt). You may be able to get it sooner than 14 days if you act quickly and follow the instructions on the next page.
The attached exemption form lists some different sources of money in your account that may be protected. If your money is from one or more of these sources, place a check on the line on the form next to the sources of your money. If it is from one of these sources, the Creditor cannot take it.
BUT, you must follow the instructions and return the exemption form and copies of your bank statements from the last 60 days to have the bank unfreeze your money. If you do not follow the instructions or your Creditor gets an order from the court or writ of execution, your financial institution will give the money to your Creditor. If that happens and it is protected, you can still get it back from the Creditor later, but that is not as easy to do as filling in the form now.
See next pages for instructions and the exemption form.
Subd. 2. Form of instructions.
The instructions required must be in a separate form and must be substantially in the following form:
INSTRUCTIONS
Note: The creditor is who you owe the money to. You are the debtor.
1. Fill out both of the attached exemption forms in this packet.
If you check one of the lines, you should also give proof that shows that some or all of the money in your account is from one or more of the protected sources. Creditors may ask for a hearing if they question your exemptions.
To avoid a hearing:
Case numbers should be added to the form.
Copies of documents should be sent with the form.
NOTICE: YOU MUST SEND TO THE CREDITOR'S ATTORNEY (OR TO THE CREDITOR, IF NO ATTORNEY) COPIES OF YOUR BANK STATEMENTS FOR THE PAST 60 DAYS BEFORE THE GARNISHMENT. Keep a copy of your bank statements in case there are questions about your claim. If you do not send to the creditor's attorney (or to the creditor, if no attorney) bank statements with your exemption claim, the financial institution may release your money to the creditor once the creditor gives the financial institution a court order directing it to turn over the funds.
2. Sign the exemption forms. Make one copy to keep for yourself.
3. Mail or deliver the other copies of the form by (insert date).
BOTH COPIES MUST BE MAILED OR DELIVERED THE SAME DAY.
One copy of the form and the copies of your bank statements go to:
One copy goes to:
HOW THE PROCESS WORKS
If You Do Not Send in the Exemption Form and Bank Statements:
14 days after the date of this letter some or all of your money may be turned over to the creditor once they get an order from the court telling the financial institution to do this.
If You Send in the Exemption Form and Bank Statements:
Any money that is NOT protected can be turned over to the creditor once they get an order from the court.
(2) the financial institution will keep holding the money claimed to be exempt; and
(3) seven days after receiving your exemption claim, the financial institution will release the money to you unless before then it receives an objection to your exemption claim.
IF THE CREDITOR OBJECTS TO YOUR EXEMPTION CLAIM:
The institution will hold the money until a court decides if your exemption claim is valid, BUT ONLY IF the institution gets a copy of your court motion papers asserting the exemption WITHIN TEN DAYS after the objection is personally served on you, or within 13 days from the date the objection is mailed to you. You may wish to consult an attorney at once if the creditor objects to your exemption claim.
MOTION TO DETERMINE EXEMPTION:
At any time after your funds have been held, you may ask for a court decision on the validity of your exemption claim by filing a request for hearing which may be obtained at the office of the court administrator of the above court.
If the Creditor Does Not Object:
The financial institution will unfreeze your money six business days after the institution gets your completed form.
If the Creditor Objects:
The money you have said is protected on the form will be held by the bank. The creditor has six business days to object (disagree) and ask the court to hold a hearing. You will receive a Notice of Objection and a Notice of Hearing.
The financial institution will hold the money until a court decides whether your money is protected or not. Some reasons a creditor may object are because you did not send copies of your bank statements or other proof of the benefits you received. Be sure to include these when you send your exemption form.
You may want to talk to a lawyer for advice about this process. If you are low income you can call Legal Aid.
PENALTIES:
PENALTIES:
If you claim an exemption in bad faith, or if the creditor wrongly objects to an exemption in bad faith, the court may order the person who acted in bad faith to pay costs, actual damages, attorney fees, and an additional amount of up to $100.
If you claim that your money is protected and a court decides you made that claim in bad faith, the court can order you to pay costs, actual damages, attorney fees, and an additional amount of up to $100. For example, it may be bad faith if you claim you receive government benefits that you do not receive.
EXEMPTION:
(If you claim an exemption complete the following):
(a) Amount of exemption claim.
/ / I claim ALL the funds being held are exempt.
/ / I claim SOME of the funds being held are exempt.
(b) Basis for exemption.
Of the eleven categories listed above, I am in category number ............ (If more than one category applies, you may fill in as many as apply.) The source of the exempt funds is the following:
(If the source is a type of relief based on need, list the case number and county:
case number: ...............;
county: ....................)
I hereby authorize any agency that has distributed relief to me or any correctional institution in which I was an inmate to disclose to the above named creditor or its attorney only whether or not I am or have been a recipient of relief based on need or an inmate of a correctional institute within the last six months.
I have mailed or delivered a copy of the exemption notice to the creditor's attorney at the address indicated above.
If the creditor made a bad faith objection to your claim that your money is protected, the court can order them to pay costs, actual damages, attorney fees, and an additional amount of up to $100.
Subd. 3. Exemption notice.
The exemption notice must be a separate form and must be in substantially the following form:
EXEMPTION FORM
You may have assistance based on need from another source that is not on the list. If you do, check this box, and fill in the source of your money on the line below:
Source: .
Include copies of any documents you have that show the source of this money.
I give permission to any agency that has given me cash benefits to give information about my benefits to the above-named creditor, or its attorney. The information will ONLY concern whether I get benefits or not, or whether I have gotten them in the past six months.
If I was an inmate in the last six months, I give my permission to the correctional institution to tell the above-named creditor that I was an inmate there.
YOU MUST SIGN AND SEND THIS FORM BACK TO THE CREDITOR'S ATTORNEY (OR TO THE CREDITOR, IF NO ATTORNEY) AND THE BANK. REMEMBER TO INCLUDE A COPY OF YOUR BANK STATEMENTS FOR THE PAST 60 DAYS. FILL IN THE BLANKS BELOW AND GO BACK TO THE INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE SURE YOU DO IT CORRECTLY.
I have mailed or delivered a copy of this form to:
I have also mailed or delivered a copy of this exemption form to my bank at the address listed in the instructions.
Official source: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Reproduced from public-domain Minnesota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.