Ohio Garnishment of Retirement Accounts: What's Protected From Judgment Collection

The debtor has a retirement account, and you are wondering whether you can reach it to satisfy your Ohio small claims judgment. In most cases, the short answer is no — retirement funds receive some of the strongest protections in both federal and Ohio law.

Federal Protections: ERISA-Qualified Plans

Employer-sponsored retirement plans governed by ERISA (the Employee Retirement Income Security Act) are broadly shielded from creditor garnishment. This covers:

• 401(k) plans
• 403(b) plans (for nonprofit and school employees)
• Traditional pension plans (defined benefit plans)
• Profit-sharing plans

Under ERISA's anti-alienation provision, funds held inside a qualified employer plan cannot be reached by a judgment creditor through garnishment, bank attachment, or execution. This protection applies while the funds remain in the plan — regardless of the account balance.

The exceptions are narrow and do not apply to small claims judgment creditors: the IRS can levy retirement accounts for tax debts, and qualified domestic relations orders (QDROs) can divide retirement assets in divorce proceedings. Your Ohio small claims judgment does not qualify for either exception.

Ohio Law: ORC 2329.66 Retirement Exemptions

Ohio's exemption statute reinforces the federal protections. Under ORC 2329.66(A)(10), the following are exempt from execution, garnishment, attachment, and any other judicial process:

• IRAs and Roth IRAs — exempt up to the applicable federal bankruptcy cap, which is adjusted periodically
• ERISA-qualified plans — fully exempt with no dollar cap
• State and local government retirement plans — including Ohio PERS, STRS, SERS, and other public employee retirement systems
• Federal government retirement benefits — Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS)

The practical effect: if the debtor's primary wealth is sitting in retirement accounts, those funds are beyond your reach as a judgment creditor.

When Retirement Money Loses Protection

Protection is not absolute once the money moves. Here is where it gets nuanced:

Distributions deposited into a regular bank account. Once a retirement account distribution reaches a regular bank account, do not assume the bank will identify or protect it automatically. The debtor may need to claim the exemption and show the funds' source at a hearing.

Social Security benefits. These are federally protected under 42 U.S.C. § 407. When direct-deposited, banks must automatically protect up to two months of benefit deposits under the federal lookback rule (31 CFR Part 212). You cannot garnish Social Security income through wage garnishment either — it is exempt from every standard collection tool.

VA benefits. Similarly protected by federal law (38 U.S.C. § 5301). Veterans' disability payments and pension benefits are protected from collection for a civil judgment.

What This Means for Your Collection Strategy

If the debtor's primary assets are retirement accounts, Social Security, or VA benefits, those assets are effectively off-limits. This does not mean the debtor is completely judgment-proof — it means you need to look elsewhere:

• Wages from current employment are subject to garnishment (up to 25% of disposable earnings or the amount above 30 times federal minimum wage, whichever is less). Social Security is exempt, but wages from a job are not.
• Non-retirement bank account funds can be frozen through a bank attachment. If the account holds a mix of exempt and non-exempt funds, the bank protects the exempt portion and the court sorts out the rest at a hearing.
• Real estate equity above the $182,625 homestead exemption is reachable through a judgment lien.
• Vehicles with equity above $5,025 and other non-exempt personal property can be seized through property execution.

At the Debtor Examination

If the debtor claims all of their assets are in exempt retirement accounts, you can verify this at a debtor examination. Ask for the account type (employer plan vs. IRA vs. individual brokerage), the institution name, and whether any distributions have been taken. A debtor who rolled over an employer plan into a personal IRA maintains the exemption. A debtor who cashed out and deposited the funds into a regular account may have a harder time claiming full protection.

Knowing which assets are protected and which are reachable is fundamental to choosing the right enforcement tool. The Ohio judgment collection guide walks through every exemption category under ORC 2329.66 and maps each one to the enforcement tools it blocks.

See more Ohio guides →