What can a judgment creditor take from my paycheck and bank account in California?

Once a judgment exists, a creditor can garnish up to 25% of your disposable earnings directly from your paycheck, and separately levy the balance of funds sitting in your bank account, though that levy is subject to various legal exemptions. Social Security benefits and most other public benefits are automatically protected from this kind of levy under federal and state law.

There's also automatic protection for a modest amount of benefits that were directly deposited into your account. Beyond those automatic protections, other exemptions you may be entitled to must be actively claimed on form EJ-160, and there's only a short window of time after a levy actually occurs to file that claim, so acting quickly matters if this happens to you.