What A Creditor Cannot Take
S.C. Code 15-41-30 and S.C. Code 37-5-104 — a home to fifty thousand dollars, a car to five thousand, and no garnishment of wages on a consumer debt
No garnishment of wages on a consumer debt. On a debt from a consumer credit sale, consumer lease, consumer loan or rental-purchase agreement, wherever it was made, the creditor may not attach the debtor's unpaid earnings by garnishment or anything like it. An employer may not fire an employee because a creditor tried to.
- A residence or burial plot, up to $50,000 in value, and no more than $100,000 for a single home with several owners.
- One motor vehicle, up to $5,000.
- Household furnishings, goods, clothing, appliances, books, animals, crops and musical instruments, up to $4,000 together.
- Jewelry, up to $1,000.
- Cash and other liquid assets up to $5,000, for a debtor who does not claim the residence exemption.
- Tools of the trade and professional books, up to $1,500.
- Prescribed health aids, and the right to social security, unemployment, veteran's, disability, alimony and support payments.
Those are among the kinds of property of a debtor living in South Carolina that are exempt from attachment, levy and sale on a court's process or in bankruptcy.
The section carries further exemptions, for life insurance and retirement plans among them, and its own limits. Whether a particular asset is exempt is a question for a licensed South Carolina attorney.
Sources for this section (3)
- S.C. Code 15-41-30 — Property exempt from attachment, levy, and sale
- S.C. Code 37-5-104 — No garnishment
- S.C. Code 37-5-106 — No discharge from employment for garnishment
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed South Carolina attorney.