California Codes, Code of Civil Procedure - CCP, Part 2 — Of Civil Actions, Title 9 — Enforcement of Judgments, Division 2 — Enforcement of Money Judgments, Chapter 4 — Exemptions, Article 3 — Exempt Property, Section 704.070

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Earnings withholding order” means an earnings withholding order under Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 706.010) (Wage Garnishment Law).

(2) “Paid earnings” means earnings as defined in Section 706.011 that were paid to the employee during the 30-day period ending on the date of the levy. For the purposes of this paragraph, where earnings that have been paid to the employee are sought to be subjected to the enforcement of a money judgment other than by a levy, the date of levy is deemed to be the date the earnings were otherwise subjected to the enforcement of the judgment.

(3) “Earnings assignment order for support” means an earnings assignment order for support as defined in Section 706.011.

(b) Paid earnings that can be traced into deposit accounts or in the form of cash or its equivalent as provided in Section 703.080 are exempt in the following amounts:

(1) All of the paid earnings are exempt if prior to payment to the employee they were subject to an earnings withholding order or an earnings assignment order for support.

(2) Disposable earnings that would otherwise not be subject to levy under Section 706.050 that are levied upon or otherwise sought to be subjected to the enforcement of a money judgment are exempt if prior to payment to the employee they were not subject to an earnings withholding order or an earnings assignment order for support.