§ 704.220.Money Exempt From Levy; Amount Equal to Or Less Than the Minimum Basic Standard of Adequate Care For a Family of Four For Region 1

This is one of the most consequential exemptions in this article for people living on modest bank balances — a wild-card protection for ordinary deposit accounts, tied to a state welfare benchmark rather than a fixed dollar figure. Money in the debtor's deposit account, up to the minimum basic standard of adequate care for a family of four for Region 1 (a figure the State Department of Social Services adjusts annually), is exempt without the debtor filing any claim.

This exemption doesn't crowd out other protections. It doesn't reduce any other exemption a debtor has under state or federal law, and where a bank has actual knowledge that the debtor qualifies for other exemptions it must apply, subdivision (b) coordinates the two: if those other exemptions add up to less than this section's amount, they're treated as included within it; if they add up to more, this section steps aside and the larger combined amount applies instead.

Three important levies fall entirely outside this protection: a levy to collect wages owed (including related damages and penalties), child support, or spousal support; a levy under specified Public Resources Code, Revenue and Taxation Code, or Unemployment Insurance Code provisions; and a state warrant or notice of levy for collecting a liability. The exemption also applies per debtor rather than per account, with detailed rules in subdivision (e) for how the protected amount gets allocated when a debtor holds several accounts at one bank or spread across multiple banks, including an ex parte court procedure either side can use to sort that out.