§ 482.100.Claim of Exemption By Defendant

Ordinarily, a defendant must claim an exemption from attachment within a set window or lose it. Section 482.100 addresses what happens when circumstances change afterward — for example, property that was not exempt when first levied on later becomes exempt. Subdivision (a) allows a renewed exemption claim under § 487.020 if the right to claim it results from a change in circumstances occurring after an earlier denial of an exemption claim for that property, or after the earlier deadline for claiming it expired.

Subdivision (b) routes that renewed claim through the standard judgment-enforcement exemption procedure at § 703.510, with the defendant able to claim the exemption at any time, subject to subdivision (a)’s change-in-circumstances requirement. Subdivision (c) offers an alternative, faster path specifically for the exemption in § 487.020(b) (property necessary for the support of the defendant or the defendant’s family): a noticed motion, served on the plaintiff at least three days before the hearing, with the hearing itself set within five days of filing absent good cause otherwise, supported by an affidavit and points and authorities. At that hearing, the defendant bears the burden of showing the property is exempt under § 487.020(b), and the court orders the property released once that showing and the change-in-circumstances showing under subdivision (a) are both made.