(a) Health aids reasonably necessary to enable the judgment debtor or the spouse or a dependent of the judgment debtor to work or sustain health, and prosthetic and orthopedic appliances, are exempt.
§ 704.050.Health Aids; Vechicles Included
Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 2 · Chapter 4. Exemptions · Article 3. Exempt Property · Last amended 2023 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 704.050 exempts, without any dollar cap, health aids reasonably necessary for the debtor, spouse, or a dependent to work or sustain health, along with prosthetic and orthopedic appliances, and expressly includes vehicles that have been converted for use by a person with a disability.
Full Text of § 704.050
(b) Health aids described in subdivision (a) include vehicles converted for use by the debtor, the debtor's spouse, or a dependent of the debtor, who has a disability. Conversion of a vehicle for use by a person who has a disability includes altering the interior, installing steering, a wheelchair lift, or motorized steps, or modifying the operation of the vehicle.
Plain-English Summary
Unlike most exemptions in this article, this one carries no dollar ceiling at all. Health aids reasonably necessary to enable the debtor, the debtor's spouse, or a dependent to work or sustain health are fully exempt, as are prosthetic and orthopedic appliances.
Subdivision (b) makes clear this category reaches further than medical equipment in the narrow sense. A vehicle converted for use by a person with a disability counts as a health aid too. The statute spells out what conversion means: altering the interior, installing steering equipment, a wheelchair lift, or motorized steps, or otherwise modifying how the vehicle operates for that person's use.
That converted-vehicle protection stands apart from the separate $7,500 motor-vehicle exemption in § 704.010. A debtor whose car has been adapted for a disability doesn't have to choose between the two — the vehicle qualifies as a health aid in its own right, without regard to the ordinary vehicle-equity cap.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a dollar limit on the health aids exemption?
No. Section 704.050 exempts reasonably necessary health aids and prosthetic and orthopedic appliances without any cap on their value.
Does this exemption cover a car that's been modified for a disability?
Yes. Subdivision (b) treats a vehicle converted for use by a person with a disability as a health aid, including altered interiors, wheelchair lifts, motorized steps, or other operational modifications.
Whose health needs does this exemption protect?
The judgment debtor's own health aids, and those reasonably necessary for the debtor's spouse or a dependent.
Amendment History
Amended by Stats 2022 ch 716 (SB 1099),s 4, eff. 1/1/2023. Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1364, Sec. 2. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 1364.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: health aids exemption californiadisability vehicle exemption from creditors