Ratzlaff

Appellant is a judgment creditor who seeks to enforce a writ of execution against one-half of the earnings of his judgment debtor received for personal service rendered within 30 days next preceding the levy of the execution. The debt was incurred by respondent for the purchase of an automobile, and the only question presented in this appeal is whether the automobile is a “common necessary of life” within the ambit of the second, paragraph of section 690.11 of the Code of Civil Procedure. This section, in pertinent part, reads as follows:

Briefly, appellant argues, that an automobile is a common necessary of life, as a matter of law, because it is the means of transportation normally used by people to earn a living and to purchase groceries and other items substantially necessary to sustain fife. He also argues that even if an automobile is not a common necessary of fife, as a matter of law, it becomes one if it is actually used by the owner to go to and from work or to shop for groceries.

The term “necessaries” as applied to the requisites of life is a relative term. It is not, in short, confined to what is absolutely essential to support life, but when used in the…