Title 34. Homestead and Other Exemptions
Chapter 2. Homestead Exemption of Householder
§ 34-4.4. Exemption of certain electronic benefit payments; account review. (2026 updated section)
A. For purposes of this section:
"Account review" means the process of examining deposits made into an account to determine if one or more benefit payments have been deposited during the two months immediately preceding the day before the account review commenced.
"Benefit payment" means funds received from (i) a federal authority listed in 31 C.F.R. § 212.2 or (ii) an agency of the Commonwealth or ordered by a court of the Commonwealth for (a) unemployment compensation pursuant to § 60.2-200, (b) public assistance pursuant to § 63.2-506, (c) workers' compensation pursuant to § 65.2-531, or (d) child support pursuant to § 20-108.1.
"Financial institution" means the same as that term is defined in § 6.2-100.
"Minimum protected account balance" means a combined total of not more than $1,000 in all of a judgment debtor's accounts held by the financial institution as described in § 34-4.3.
"Protected amount" means the total sum of benefit payments deposited into a judgment debtor's account within the two months immediately preceding the day before a financial institution conducts an account review.
B. Except as provided in subsection G, a financial institution shall, upon receipt of a garnishment summons, conduct an account review for an account of an account holder named in the summons as the judgment debtor, provided that the financial institution finds that the total amount in all of the account holder's accounts exceeds the minimum protected account balance described in § 34-4.3. If the financial institution determines pursuant to the account review that one or more benefit payments have been deposited within the two months immediately preceding the day before such account review commenced, the financial institution shall immediately calculate the protected amount and establish that such protected amount shall be automatically exempt from garnishment. Additionally, the financial institution shall ensure that the account holder has full and customary access to such protected amount and shall not withhold any portion of such protected amount pursuant to the garnishment summons.
C. Upon conducting an account review and establishing a protected amount in accordance with subsection B, the financial institution shall issue notice to the account holder that contains information consistent with the provisions of 31 C.F.R. § 212.7.
D. If an account holder named in a garnishment summons as the judgment debtor maintains more than one account at a financial institution, the financial institution shall conduct a separate account review as described in subsection B for each account and, if applicable, a separate and distinct protected amount shall be calculated and established for each account. Additionally, a financial institution shall only conduct one account review per receipt of a garnishment summons and shall not repeat an account review of the same account pursuant to the same garnishment summons. However, a financial institution shall perform a separate and new account review of each account if subsequently served with a new or different garnishment summons against the same account holder.
E. Any funds in an account exceeding the total of (i) the minimum protected account balance and (ii) the protected amount or protected amounts calculated pursuant to this section shall be subject to garnishment unless otherwise provided by state or federal law.
F. Any minimum protected account balance under § 34-4.3 or protected amount calculated pursuant to this section shall constitute an automatic exemption. No judgment debtor shall be required to either claim the exemptions under § 34-4.3 or this section or to request a hearing on such exemptions; however, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit or limit a judgment debtor's ability to claim other exemptions available to him by law.
G. The provisions of this section shall not apply and no financial institution shall conduct an account review if an exemption is prohibited by § 34-5 or any other relevant provision of law.
H. The provisions of this section shall apply only to benefit payments that a financial institution, based on information transmitted from the payer of such benefit payment, is able to identify as one of the types of benefit payments defined in this section.
