The answer is no. You do not need a separate wage account to protect salary from creditors.
Wages paid to the head of household are exempt from creditors. The wages remain exempt for six months when deposited in a bank account.
The purpose of a wage account is to segregate protected wages and not commingle wages in accounts with money from other sources. The concern is that if the head of household deposit wages in a checking account owed jointly with the spouse or owned by another entity, such as a living trust, the wage protection would be lost.
However, Florida law does not does not require depositing protected wages into a separate wage account. In fact, Section 222.11 (3) states that the commingling of earnings with other funds does not by itself defeat the ability of the head of household to trace protected earnings.
As long as someone can clearly trace and identify wages deposited into an account, the wages are protected.
Wage accounts may be helpful, but a separate wage account is not necessary to protect the deposited earnings of the head of household.
About the Author
Jon Alper is a nationally recognized attorney specializing in asset protection planning. He graduated with honors from the University of Florida Law School and has practiced law for almost 50 years.
Jon and the Alper Law firm have advised thousands of clients about how to protect their assets from creditors.
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