What Creditors Cannot Take
La. R.S. 13:3881 — 75 percent of weekly pay, one car up to $15,000 in equity, household goods, and retirement accounts
Seventy-five percent of a debtor's disposable earnings for any week is exempt from seizure, and never less than thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage. For a child support obligation, the exemption is fifty percent.
- Tools, instruments, books and one utility trailer needed to earn a living.
- Clothing, bedding, furniture, appliances, family portraits, musical instruments, and household pets.
- Firearms and ammunition up to $2,500 in total value, and wedding or engagement rings up to $5,000.
- One motor vehicle up to $15,000 in equity, and a second in some households, or one adapted for a disability up to $20,000.
- The federal earned income tax credit and the refundable child tax credit, except against the Department of Revenue or back child support.
Pensions, IRAs and other tax deferred arrangements, annuities and health savings accounts are exempt from every debt except alimony and child support, though a contribution made within one calendar year of the seizure or bankruptcy is not.
Sources for this section (1)
- La. R.S. 13:3881 — General exemptions from seizure
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Louisiana attorney.