Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Florida

You should probably spend an hour or so with an experienced debtor attorney to cover your specific situation and go over your options.

First, creditors can't garnish your bank account for money that is not in the account. If they obtain a garnishment it is for an amount up to the judgment. Whatever funds are in the account at the time of Garnishment (up to the full judgment) will be "frozen" by the lender until the court enters an Order directing the bank what to do with the funds. Practically speaking they usually freeze more than the judgment in order to cover any outstanding checks or debits that have not cleared. In any event, the bank holds those funds until they are told what to do with them.

Second, if you qualify for head of household it also applies to garnishment of bank accounts. So, if you are in fact eligible and you successfully challenge the garnishment, the bank would have to return the funds to your account. Now if the creditor initiates the garnishment action it is up to you to challenge it and raise the defense of Head of Household. This is true with bank and wage garnishment. During the time that you are contesting it you will not have access to the money that is being garnished, so you want to try and convince the creditor that you are head of household before they attempt a garnishment. They do not have to take your word for it at any time and you could end up having to go to hearing before the judge to establish that you are head of household.

There are other exemptions that may or may not be available to you as well, which is why you should have an in depth consult with an experienced attorney.

As for the Deposition and request for documents, even if you are head of household you are required to cooperate and provide information. Whether they are asking for anything that is not appropriate can not be determined through the forum here, but there may be some things that you do not have to provide. Generally speaking, the information you provide them and the documents you provide should support your claim of Head of Household and you would want them to know of that designation before they file a garnishment.

Finally, depending on the amount of other debts you have and the situation with your foreclosure, you may want to consider bankruptcy, even though your wages and bank accounts may be protected as Head of Household. There is no "cookie cutter" answer that fits ALL situation, which is why I have suggested an in person consult with an attorney.

Good luck and if I can be of any assistance please feel free to let me know.

The answer is yes, you have to provide the documents. The likelihood the attorney is going to ask for irrelevant documents is virtually zero. As long as the requested documents touch on your financial status (including employment info, spouse info, child info, etc) you are pretty much compelled to provide the info.

If you are garnished (unlikely), you may have statutory exemptions.