Massachusetts State Bankruptcy Exemptions
Ch. 188, § 1. Nature of Homestead Estate; Exceptions; "Owner" and "Family"
Defined.
An estate of homestead to the extent of $ 500,000 in the land and buildings may
be acquired pursuant to this chapter by an owner or owners of a home or one or
all who rightfully possess the premise by lease or otherwise and who occupy or
intend to occupy said home as a principal residence. Said estate shall be
exempt from the laws of conveyance, descent, devise, attachment, levy on
execution and sale for payment of debts or legacies except in the following
cases:
(1) sale for taxes;
(2) for a debt contracted prior to the acquisition of said estate of homestead;
(3) for a debt contracted for the purchase of said home;
(4) upon an execution issued from the probate court to enforce its judgment that
a spouse pay a certain amount weekly or otherwise for the support of a spouse
or minor children;
(5) where buildings on land not owned by the owner of a homestead estate are
attached, levied upon or sold for the ground rent of the lot whereon they
stand;
(6) upon an execution issued from a court of competent jurisdiction to enforce
its judgment based upon fraud, mistake, duress, undue influence or lack of
capacity.
For the purposes of this chapter, an owner of a home shall include a sole owner,
joint tenant, tenant by the entirety or tenant in common; provided, that only
one owner may acquire an estate of homestead in any such home for the benefit
of his family; and provided further, that an estate of homestead may be
acquired on only one principal residence for the benefit of a family. For the
purposes of this chapter, the word "family" shall include either a parent and
child or children, a husband and wife and their children, if any, or a sole
owner.
Ch. 188, § 1A. Protection from Attachment, Seizure or Execution of Judgment of
Realty of Certain Elderly and Disabled Persons; Prerequisites; Exceptions;
Termination of Homestead.
The real property or manufactured home of persons sixty-two years of age or
older, regardless of marital status, or of a disabled person, as herein
defined, shall be protected against attachment, seizure or execution of
judgment to the extent of $ 500,000; provided, however, that such person has
filed an elderly or disabled person's declaration of homestead protection as
provided in section two; and, provided further, that such person occupies or
intends to occupy such real property or manufactured home as his principal
residence. A disabled person's declaration of homestead protection shall be
accompanied by either of the documents referred to in the second paragraph of
this section.
For the purposes of this section, a disabled person is defined as an individual
who has any medically determinable permanent physical or mental impairment
which would meet the disability requirements for supplemental security income
under the provisions of 42 USC 1382c(a)(3)(A) and (C), which are in effect at
the time of filing. An original or certified copy of a disability award letter
issued to the person by the United States Social Security Administration; or a
letter signed by a licensed physician registered with the Massachusetts Board
of Registration in Medicine certifying that the person meets the disability
requirements stated in 42 USC 1382c(a)(3)(A) and (C), which are in effect at
the time of filing, shall be recorded or filed, whichever is appropriate, with
a disabled person's declaration of homestead protection.
Each individual having an ownership interest in the real property or
manufactured home which serves as that individual's principal residence and who
qualifies under the provisions of this section shall, upon filing of an elderly
or disabled person's declaration of homestead protection, be eligible for
protection of such ownership interest up to a maximum amount of $ 300,000 per
individual, regardless of whether such declaration is filed individually or
jointly with another.
The following shall be exempt from the provisions of this section: federal,
state and local taxes, assessments, claims and liens; first and second
mortgages held by financial institutions or others; any and all debts,
encumbrances or contracts existing prior to the filing of the declaration; an
execution issued from the probate court to enforce its judgment that a spouse
pay a certain amount weekly or otherwise for the support of a spouse or minor
children; where buildings on land not owned by the owner of a homestead estate
are attached, levied upon or sold for the ground rent of the lot whereon they
stand.
The elderly or disabled person's estate or claim of homestead shall be
terminated upon the sale or transfer of the real property or manufactured home
during the declarant's lifetime or upon the sale or transfer of the declarant's
interest in the real property or manufactured home during the declarant's
lifetime or upon the death of the surviving declarant. An elderly or disabled
person's estate of homestead created by this section shall be terminated during
the lifetime of the declarant by deed conveying the property in which such an
estate of homestead exists signed by the declarant; or by a release of the
elderly or disabled person's estate of homestead, duly signed, sealed and
acknowledged by the declarant and recorded in the registry of deeds for the
county or district in which such real estate is located; or by a release of the
elderly or disabled person's claim of homestead, duly signed, sealed and
acknowledged by the declarant and filed in the city or town clerk's office in
the city or town in which the manufactured home is located; or pursuant to
section two.
Ch. 235, § 34. Property Exempt From Execution.
The following property of the debtor shall be exempt from seizure on execution:
First, The necessary wearing apparel, beds and bedding for himself and his
family; one heating unit used for warming the dwelling house, and the amount
each month, not exceeding seventy-five dollars, reasonably necessary to pay for
fuel, heat, water, hot water and light for himself and his family.
Second, Other household furniture necessary for him and his family, not
exceeding three thousand dollars in value.
Third, The bibles, school books and library, used by him or his family, not
exceeding two hundred dollars in value.
Fourth, Two cows, twelve sheep, two swine and four tons of hay.
Fifth, Tools, implements and fixtures necessary for carrying on his trade or
business, not exceeding five hundred dollars in value.
Sixth, Materials and stock designed and procured by him and necessary for
carrying on his trade or business, and intended to be used or wrought therein,
not exceeding five hundred dollars in value.
Seventh, Provisions necessary and procured and intended for the use of the
family, or the money necessary therefor, not exceeding three hundred dollars in
value.
Eighth, One pew occupied by him or his family in a house of public worship; but
this provision shall not prevent the sale of a pew for the nonpayment of a tax
legally laid thereon.
Ninth, Boats, fishing tackle and nets of fishermen actually used by them in the
prosecution of their business, not exceeding five hundred dollars in value.
Tenth, The uniform of an officer or soldier in the militia and the arms and
accoutrements required by law to be kept by him.
Eleventh, Rights of burial and tombs in use as repositories for the dead.
Twelfth, One sewing machine, in actual use by each debtor or by his family, not
exceeding two hundred dollars in value.
Thirteenth, Share in co-operative associations subject to chapter one hundred
and fifty-seven, not exceeding one hundred dollars in value in the aggregate.
Fourteenth, Estates of homestead as defined in chapter one hundred and
eighty-eight or, in lieu thereof, the amount of money each rental period, not
exceeding two hundred dollars per month, necessary to pay the rent for the
dwelling unit occupied by him and his family.
Fifteenth, Cash, savings or other deposits in a banking institution, or money
owed to him each pay period as wages for personal labor or services, or any
combination of such cash, deposits or money owing, not exceeding one hundred
and twenty-five dollars, or any sum of money which was received by or is owing
to him as public assistance.
Sixteenth, An automobile necessary for personal transportation or to secure or
maintain employment, not exceeding seven hundred dollars in value. FORMS
Form 1 -- Notice to Sheriff of Debtor's Claim of Exemption
Form 2 -- Complaint Against Sheriff Concerning Exempt Property Seized on
Execution 1 Notice to Sheriff of Debtor's Claim of Exemption [Title of Court
and Cause]
To: [-----] , Sheriff of the County of [-----] , Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Notice is hereby given that I am married and residing with my spouse and family
at [-----] [address], City of [-----] , County of [-----] , Commonwealth of
Massachusetts; and that I am entitled to certain exemption of property from
execution in accordance with the Annotated Laws of Massachusetts Chapter 235 §
34.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Annotated Laws of Massachusetts Chapter 235 §
34, I hereby claim as property exempt from execution and attachment the
following personal property: [-----] [describe property claimed in such a way
as to distinguish it from nonexempt property levied on].
You levied on the above-described property under a writ of execution issued on
the judgment in the above-entitled action, and removed such property from my
premises on [-----] , 19 [--] .
I hereby demand that you release your levy on the above-described property and
return the property to me at once.
Dated [-----] , 19 [--] .
[Signature]
2 Complaint Against Sheriff Concerning Exempt Property Seized on Execution
[Title of Court and Cause]
Plaintiff for cause of action alleges as follows:
1. Plaintiff, [-----] , is, and at all times mentioned herein was, a resident
of the County of [-----] , Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
2. At all times mentioned herein, the defendant, [-----] , was, and still is,
the Sheriff of the County of [-----] , Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
3. At all times mentioned herein, plaintiff was, and still is, the owner and
entitled to the immediate possession of certain personal property described as
follows: [-----] , having a reasonable value of the sum of $ [---] .
4. On [-----] , 19 [--] , at [-----] [address], City of [-----] , County of
[-----] , Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the defendant, acting as the sheriff
of the County of [-----] , Commonwealth of Massachusetts, levied on, seized,
and took possession of the above described property under an execution issued
on a judgment recovered by [-----] against this plaintiff in the [-----] Court,
County of [-----] , Commonwealth of Massachusetts, entitled [-----] vs [-----]
, Docket No. [---] .
5. The above described property was, and still is, exempt by law from levy and
seizure under execution pursuant to the Annotated Laws of Massachusetts Chapter
235 § 34.
6. Plaintiff, at the time of such levy and seizure, duly notified the defendant
that the plaintiff claimed the subject property was so exempt, and then and
there demanded of the defendant that defendant return it to the plaintiff.
7. Notwithstanding this notification and demand, the defendant wrongfully,
wilfully, and maliciously detained the property from the plaintiff's
possession, and still so detains it, all to plaintiff's damage in the sum of $
[---] [value of property with interest from time of its seizure or other
measure of damages, as the case may be].
8. Plaintiff is also entitled to punitive damages from the defendant in the sum
of $ [---] .
Wherefore, plaintiff requests judgment against the defendant for the possession
of the above described property; and, in case possession thereof cannot be
given to the plaintiff, for the sum of $ [---] , together with interest at the
highest legal rate from the time of levy and seizure; for the sum of $ [---]
punitive damages; and, for costs herein, and for such other and further relief
as to this court deems just and proper.
Dated [-----] , 19 [--] .
[Signature]
[Verification]
Ch. 235, § 34A. Exemption of Annuities, Pensions, etc., From Attachment or
Execution; Exceptions.
The right or interest of any person in an annuity, pension, profit sharing or
other retirement plan subject to the federal Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974, in any plan maintained by one or more self-employed
individuals as a Keogh Plan, so-called, in any plan maintained by a corporation
or other business organization pursuant to section 401(a) of the Internal
Revenue Code but not subject to the federal Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974, or in any Simplified Employee Plan, annuity plan to which the
provisions of section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code apply or Individual
Retirement Account or Annuity maintained by an individual, or in any annuity or
similar contract distributed from or purchased with assets distributed from any
of the foregoing, shall be exempt from the operation of any law relating to
insolvency and shall not be attached or taken on execution or other process to
satisfy any debt or liability of such person, except as may be necessary to
satisfy (i) an order of a court of competent jurisdiction concerning divorce,
separate maintenance or child support or (ii), in the event of the conviction
of such person of a crime, an order of a court requiring such person to satisfy
a monetary penalty or make restitution to the victim of such crime. The
exemption in this section for plans maintained by an individual, whether or not
self-employed, shall not apply to sums deposited, determined without regard to
deposits pursuant to a rollover or transfer except to the extent protection
under this section would be limited in the absence of a rollover or transfer,
in said plans during the five year period preceding the individual's
declaration of bankruptcy or entry of judgment in excess of 7 per cent of the
total income of such individual for such period.
Ch. 118, § 10. Exemption from Trustee Process; Assignment; Effect of False
Statement or Fraud.
Aid hereunder shall not be subject to trustee process and no assignment thereof
shall be valid. No applicant for aid hereunder, who knowingly makes any false
statement, or seeks to perpetrate any fraud or deception, in or relative to his
application for such aid, shall be granted any aid hereunder upon such
application.
Ch. 154, § 2. Requisites for Validity of Assignments to Secure Small Loans.
No assignment of or order for wages or salary to be earned in the future to
secure a loan of less than three thousand dollars shall be valid against an
employer of the person making such assignment or order until the assignment or
order is accepted in writing by the employer, nor until the assignment or order
and the acceptance of the same have been filed and recorded with the clerk of
the city or town where the person making the assignment or order resides if he
is a resident of the commonwealth, or in which he is employed if he is not a
resident thereof; nor shall it be valid unless said assignment is substantially
in the form prescribed in section five. No such assignment or order shall be
recorded by the clerk of a city or town unless it states on its face that the
sum of ten dollars per week, as earned, of the wages or salary so assigned is
exempt from such assignment or order. No such assignment or order shall be
valid when made by a married man unless the written consent of his wife to the
making thereof is attached thereto. No such assignment or order shall be valid
for a period exceeding one year from the making thereof. The fee for the filing
and recording of such assignment shall be as provided by clause (2) of section
thirty-four of chapter two hundred and sixty-two.
Ch. 154, § 3. Requisites for Validity of Other Assignments.
No assignment of or order for future wages other than one subject to the
preceding section shall be valid for a period exceeding two years from the
making thereof, nor unless made to secure a debt contracted prior to or
simultaneously with the execution of said assignment or order, nor unless
executed in writing in the standard form set forth in section five and signed
by the assignor in person and not by attorney, nor unless such assignment or
order states the date of its execution, the money or the money value of goods
actually furnished by the assignee and the rate of interest, if any, to be paid
thereon. Three fourths of the weekly earnings or wages of the assignor shall at
all times be exempt from such assignment or order, and no assignment or order
shall be valid which does not so state on its face. No such assignment or order
shall be valid unless the written acceptance of the employer of the assignor,
and, if the assignor is a married man, the written consent of his wife to the
making thereof, are endorsed thereon or attached thereto.
Ch. 149, § 178B. Deductions from Wages or Salaries of Employees of the State, its
Departments, Institutions, and Political Subdivisions for Payments etc., to
Credit Unions and Other Financial Institutions.
The state treasurer, the treasurer of any county, the treasurer of any state
institution and the treasurer of any city or town having a by-law or ordinance
or collective bargaining agreement so requiring shall, and unless contrary to a
by-law or ordinance the treasurer of any other city or town or of any district
may, deduct from each payment of salary to any employee of the commonwealth or
of any such county, city, town or district such amount or amounts as such
employee in a written authorization to such treasurer may specify for
purchasing shares of, or making deposits in, or repaying any loan from any
credit union operated by employees of the commonwealth or of any such county,
city, town or district or by members of a state association of teachers or any
savings or cooperative bank, trust company, or credit union incorporated in or
chartered by the commonwealth; or any national banking association, federal
savings and loan association or federal credit union located in the
commonwealth; or any banking company or Morris Plan Company subject to chapter
one hundred and seventy-two A, or any savings and loan association under the
supervision of the commissioner of banks. Any such authorization may be
withdrawn by the employee by giving at least thirty days notice in writing of
such withdrawal to the state, county, municipal or district treasurer, or the
treasurer of the state or county department or institution and by filing a copy
with the treasurer of said credit union. Any treasurer making deductions under
this section shall transmit the amounts so deducted to the treasurer of such
credit union or to the appropriate officer of any other such bank or
association for the purposes specified by the employee; provided, in the case
of such a union, that he is satisfied by such evidence as he may require that
the treasurer of the credit union has given bond as required by the law for the
faithful performance of his duties. The treasurer of any city, town or district
shall transmit the amounts so deducted to the credit union operated by members
of a state association of teachers within fourteen days of the deduction.
Moneys so deducted shall not be attached or taken upon execution or other
process while in the custody of the treasurer making the deduction.
The state treasurer shall deduct from each payment of pension to any retiree of
the commonwealth such amount or amounts as such retiree in a written
authorization to the state treasurer may specify for purchasing shares of, or
making deposits in, or repaying any loan from any credit union operated by
employees of the commonwealth. Any such authorization may be withdrawn by the
retiree by giving at least 30 days notice in writing of such withdrawal to the
state treasurer and by filing a copy with the treasurer of said credit union.
The state treasurer making deductions under this section shall transmit the
amounts so deducted to the treasurer of such credit union for the purposes
specified by the retiree; provided, however, that in the case of such a union,
he is satisfied by such evidence as he may require that the treasurer of the
credit union has given bond as required by the law for the faithful performance
of his duties. Moneys so deducted shall not be attached or taken upon execution
or other process while in the custody of the state treasurer, except when so
authorized by any other provision of law.
Ch. 175, § 110A. Exemption of Benefits from Attachment and Execution.
So much of any benefit under a policy of insurance insuring against disability
from injury or disease as does not exceed four hundred dollars for each week
during any period of disability covered thereby shall not be liable to
attachment, trustee process or other process, or to be seized, taken,
appropriated or applied by any legal or equitable process or by operation of
law, either before or after payment of such benefit, to pay any debt or
liabilities of the person insured under such policy, but this exemption shall
not apply where an action or suit is brought to recover for necessaries
contracted for during said period and the writ or bill of complaint contains a
statement to that effect.
Ch. 175, § 132C. Group Annuity Contract and Proceeds or Benefits Thereof Exempt
from Process, etc.
No group annuity contract, nor the proceeds or benefits thereof, shall be
liable, either before or after payment, to be seized, taken, appropriated or
applied by any legal or equitable process or operation of law to pay any debt
or liabilities of the annuitant or his beneficiary or any other person having
any right thereunder; nor shall the benefits or proceeds upon the death of an
annuitant, when not made payable to a beneficiary, constitute a part of the
estate of the annuitant for the payment of his debts.
Nothing in this section shall prevent an annuitant's benefits from being seized,
taken, appropriated, assigned, or applied by any legal or equitable process or
operation of law to satisfy a support order under chapter two hundred and
eight, two hundred and nine, or two hundred and seventy-three.
Ch. 175, § 135. Assignment of Interests under Group Life Insurance Policies; Not
Subject to Attachment.
No such policy, or the proceeds thereof when paid to any employee or employees
thereunder, or to their beneficiaries, shall be liable to attachment, trustee
process or other process, or to be seized, taken, appropriated or applied by
any legal or equitable process or operation of law to pay any debt or
liabilities of such employee or his beneficiary or any other person having
right thereunder either before or after payment; nor shall the proceeds
thereof, when not made payable to any beneficiary, constitute a part of the
estate of the employee for the payment of his debts.
Nothing in this section shall prevent an employee's benefits from being
attached, seized, taken, appropriated, assigned, or applied by any legal or
equitable process or operation of law to satisfy a support order under chapter
two hundred and eight, two hundred and nine, or two hundred and seventy-three.
Ch. 175, § 119A. Protection of Persons Entitled to Proceeds of Life Insurance
Policy or Annuity Contract Retained by Life Company.
If, under the terms of any annuity contract or policy of life insurance, or
under any written agreement supplemental thereto, issued by any life company,
the proceeds are retained by such company at maturity or otherwise, no person
entitled to any part of such proceeds, or any instalment of interest due or to
become due thereon, shall be permitted to commute, anticipate, encumber,
alienate or assign the same, or any part thereof, if such permission is
expressly withheld by the terms of such contract, policy or supplemental
agreement; and if such contract, policy or supplemental agreement so provides,
no payments of interest or of principal shall be in any way subject to such
person's debts, contracts or engagements, nor to any judicial processes to levy
upon or attach the same for payment thereof. No such company shall be required
to segregate such funds but may hold them as a part of its general corporate
funds.
Ch. 79, § 6A. Payment of Certain Moving Costs of Persons Displaced by Taking.
Any person lawfully occupying real property who is displaced therefrom and
caused to move as a result of a taking of such property by eminent domain,
shall be paid by the body politic or corporate on behalf of which the taking is
made, unless other provision is made by law, the reasonable and necessary
expenses incurred by him, as determined by said body, in moving his personal
property to another location within the commonwealth, but in no event more than
the amounts permitted by the provisions of chapter seventy-nine A. Moving
expense payments granted under the provisions of this section shall not be
subject to attachment by trustee process or otherwise, nor shall they be
subject to be taken on execution or other process.
Ch. 246, § 20. Attachment by Trustee Process.
The goods, effects or credits of the defendant intrusted to, or deposited in
the hands or possession of, a person summoned as his trustee shall, except as
hereinafter provided, be attached and held to respond to the final judgment, as
if they had been attached upon an original writ of attachment; provided, that
any moneys of the defendant deposited in any account designated as a payroll
account shall not be subject to attachment hereunder. Any defendant who
deposits moneys in such payroll account with intent to evade attachment by
trustee process shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred nor
more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment in the house of correction
for not more than three months, or both. If such a deposit or deposits are made
by a corporation, the president and the treasurer and any other officer or
agent causing such deposit or deposits to have been made shall be subject to
prosecution as defendants under this section, and each of such persons shall be
jointly and severally civilly liable to the plaintiff for any loss suffered by
the making of such deposit or deposits.
Ch. 246, § 28. Exemption of Wages and Pensions From Attachment; Exceptions.
If wages for personal labor or personal services of a defendant are attached
for a debt or claim, an amount not exceeding $ 125 out of the wages then due to
the defendant for labor performed or services rendered during each week for
which such wages were earned but not paid shall be reserved in the hands of the
trustee and shall be exempt from such attachment. Except as otherwise permitted
by law, amounts held by a trustee for a defendant in a pension shall be
reserved in the hands of the trustee and shall be exempt from attachment. For
the purpose of this section, the word "pension" shall mean any annuity,
pension, profit sharing or other retirement plan subject to the federal
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, any plan maintained by one or
more self-employed individuals as a Keogh Plan, so-called, any plan maintained
by a corporation or other business organization pursuant to section 401(a) of
the Internal Revenue Code but not subject to the federal Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974, any Simplified Employee Plan, annuity plan to
which the provisions of section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code apply or an
Individual Retirement Account or Annuity maintained by an individual, or any
annuity or similar contract distributed from or purchased with assets
distributed from any of the foregoing; provided, however, that this definition
shall not apply to sums deposited, determined without regard to deposits
pursuant to a rollover or transfer except to the extent protection under this
section would have been limited in the absence of a rollover or transfer, in
any plan maintained by an individual, whether or not self-employed, during the
five year period preceding the individual's declaration of bankruptcy or entry
of judgment in excess of 7 per cent of the total income of such individual for
such period. The amount reserved under this section shall be paid by the
trustee to the defendant in the same manner and at the same time as such amount
would have been paid if no such attachment had been made. Every writ of
attachment shall contain a statement of the amount exempted from attachment
under this section and also a direction to the trustee to pay over the exempted
amount as provided in this section.
The provisions of this section shall not apply in any proceeding to attach wages
or a pension to satisfy a divorce, separate maintenance or child support order
of a court of competent jurisdiction, and in such actions, including an action
for trustee process to enforce a support order under section 36A of chapter
208, the provisions of federal law limiting the amounts which may be trusteed,
assigned or attached in order to satisfy an alimony, maintenance or child
support order shall apply in lieu of said provisions of this section.
Ch. 246, § 28A. Certain Monies Held Exempt from Attachment.
Five hundred dollars of any natural person in any account or accounts in a
trust company, savings bank, cooperative bank, credit union, national banking
association or any other banking institution doing business in the commonwealth
shall be exempt from attachment by trustee process. A joint account shall be
treated for the purposes of this section as if each depositor owned one half of
the amount thereof. Every trustee summons served on such an institution shall
describe such exemption with reference to this section. Upon service of such a
summons the trustee shall answer as subject to attachment only so much money of
the defendant as exceeds five hundred dollars.
No business, trust or organization shall be entitled to the exemption hereunder,
and no natural person shall be entitled to more than a five hundred dollar
exemption at any one time. In any action the plaintiff may apply to the court
for further attachments upon proof by certified records of the trustee or
trustees that the defendant has received an exemption not authorized hereunder
or that the five hundred dollar exemption of the defendant has been in whole or
in part exhausted or exceeded.
Ch. 246, § 32. Claims Not Attachable by Trustee Process.
No person shall be adjudged a trustee in the following cases:
First, By reason of having drawn, accepted, made or endorsed a negotiable bill,
draft, note or other security which at the date of the summons was negotiable
to a holder in due course under the provisions of chapter one hundred and six.
Second, By reason of having received or collected money or any other thing as a
sheriff or other officer upon an execution or other legal process in favor of
the defendant in the trustee process, although it may have been demanded of him
by the defendant.
Third, By reason of having money in his hands as a public officer, for which he
is accountable to the defendant merely as such officer.
Fourth, By reason of money or any other thing due from him to the defendant,
unless it is, at the time of service of the summons upon him, due absolutely
and without any contingency; provided, however, that nothing herein shall
prevent the attachment by means of trustee process of an obligor's wages,
pension or other compensation for employment in an action pursuant to section
thirty-six A of chapter two hundred and eight.
Fifth, By reason of a debt due from him upon a judgment, so long as he is liable
to an execution thereon.
Sixth, By reason of money or credits due for the wages of personal labor or
services of the wife or minor children of the defendant.
Seventh, By reason of money or credits due or accruing to the defendant as wages
or lay as a seaman; but this clause shall not apply to the wages or lay due or
accruing to a fisherman.
Eighth, By reason of money or credits due for the wages of personal labor or
services of the defendant, unless such attachment is made in an action brought
upon a judgment, is upon money or credits not exempt from execution pursuant to
section thirty-four of chapter two hundred and thirty-five and is authorized in
advance by written permission endorsed upon the complaint and signed by a
justice, associate justice or special justice of the court in which the action
is commenced. Application to said justice, associate justice or special justice
of the court for permission for said attachment shall be made only after ten
days' written notice has been delivered or sent by registered mail, return
receipt requested, to the defendant at his last known address, place of
business or employment. Such notice shall contain the name of the plaintiff,
the name of the court in which the action is to be commenced, the nature of the
claim, the time and place such application will be made, and shall inform the
defendant that he is entitled to be present and be heard at said time and place
if he objects to the granting of said application. A copy of said notice and a
certificate of the person sending or delivering said notice shall be evidence
thereof. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions relating to notice, if said
justice, associate justice or special justice finds in his discretion that
compliance with said provisions relating to notice will unreasonably delay and
hinder justice, he may authorize the attachment with a shorter notice, or
without notice, to the defendant. The provisions of this paragraph shall not
apply to actions for trustee process to enforce support obligations pursuant to
section thirty-six A of chapter two hundred and eight.
Ch. 115, § 5. Payment of Veterans' Benefits; Assignment.
Veterans' benefits shall be paid to a veteran or dependent by the city or town
wherein he resides; provided, that no benefits shall be paid to a veteran
unless he has actually resided within the commonwealth continuously for three
years next preceding the date of his application for such benefits, nor to any
dependent of a veteran unless he has actually resided within the commonwealth
continuously for three years next preceding the date of his application for
such benefits, nor unless the veteran of whom he is a dependent has actually
resided within the commonwealth continuously for three years next preceding the
date of such dependent's application for such benefits. If the veteran is
deceased at the time of the dependent's application for benefits, and the
veteran died while a resident of the commonwealth, the commission may,
notwithstanding the foregoing proviso, authorize such benefits to such
dependent actually residing in the commonwealth at the time of the veteran's
death; provided, however, any veteran who actually resided in the commonwealth
at the time of his entry into or continuance in active military or naval
service of the United States and the dependents of such veteran shall be
eligible for benefits without any waiting period.
Veterans' benefits shall not be subject to trustee process, and no assignment
thereof shall be valid. Only such amount shall be paid to or for any veteran or
dependent as may be necessary to afford him sufficient relief or support and
such benefits shall not be paid to any person who is able to support himself or
who is in receipt of income from any source sufficient for his support. The
applicant's receipt of income from any source in an amount insufficient for his
support shall not bar him from receiving veterans' benefits to supplement the
same, if determined necessary by the commissioner. No payment of benefits shall
be made for any period of time prior to the date of application; provided,
however, that the commissioner, on recommendation of the veterans' agent of the
city or town paying the benefits, may authorize the payment of benefits for not
more than sixty days prior to the date of the application if the necessity
therefor has been caused by serious accident or illness to the applicant or to
one or more dependents of the veteran upon whose service the application is
made.
No veterans' benefits shall be paid to or for any veteran who has been
dishonorably discharged from any national soldiers' or sailors' home or from a
soldiers' home in this commonwealth, or to or for his dependents, unless the
commissioner shall otherwise determine; nor to or for any applicant convicted
of a crime, if the veterans' agent and the commissioner shall so rule; and,
unless the commissioner, at his discretion, shall otherwise determine, no
veterans' benefits shall be paid to or for any veteran who neglects to support
his dependents nor to or for any dependents of such veteran, nor to or for any
veteran or applicant if the necessity therefor is caused by his voluntary
idleness or continuous vicious habits, nor to or for any dependents of such
veteran or applicant; but dependents of a deceased veteran shall not be deemed
ineligible to receive such benefits by reason of any negligence of such
veteran, when alive, to support them. No veteran who is or shall otherwise be
entitled to veterans' benefits shall lose his right thereto by reason of his
absence from the commonwealth while receiving hospital treatment, under orders
of the United States Veterans' Administration, at any hospital located outside
the commonwealth, nor shall the right of his dependents thereto be lost while
he is actually receiving such hospital treatment by reason of their absence
from the commonwealth to accompany him.
No veteran or dependent shall be compelled to receive veterans' benefits without
his consent. He shall receive such benefits at home, or at such other place as
the veterans' agent may deem proper, but he shall not be compelled to receive
the same at an infirmary or public institution unless his physical or mental
condition so requires, or, if a minor, unless his parents or guardians so
elect. The veterans' agent or the commissioner may require a person to whom
veterans' benefits are granted to pay over his United States pension or
compensation to them to be expended for his relief before receiving such
benefits. In the event that the necessity for the granting of veterans'
benefits to any veteran or any dependent of a veteran is caused by
unemployment, accident or illness of or to such veteran or dependent and
monetary remuneration is provided therefor whether by workers' compensation,
accident or health insurance, or otherwise, or by legal responsibility of a
tortfeasor liable for financial damages to such veteran or dependent therefor,
the veterans' agent or the commissioner may require such veteran or dependent
to assign to him the whole or any portion of the financial proceeds to be
realized from such workers' compensation, accident or health insurance, or
otherwise, or the whole or any portion of the financial damages to be recovered
from such tortfeasor whether by settlement, arbitration, court action, or
otherwise. Such assignment shall operate as a lien on such financial proceeds
or financial damages to an amount equivalent to the total expenditures of
veterans' benefits allowed to such veteran or dependent, and said lien may be
enforced by petition to the district court within the jurisdiction of which the
city or town of payment is located.
Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to prohibit the granting of veterans'
benefits by a city or town in excess of the amount authorized or approved by
the commissioner in any particular case, or the paying of such benefits as may
be necessary to meet the emergency needs of any applicant prior to the date of
the approval by the commissioner of the payment of benefits under any such
application if the veterans' agent making such grant or payment forthwith
furnishes the commissioner with a written statement of his reasons for taking
such action.
All benefits available to dependents of veterans as provided by this chapter
shall be extended to the mother of any member of the armed forces of the United
States whose death occurred as the result of injury sustained or disease
contracted during active service in time of war or insurrection, including
active service in the said armed forces under the flag of the United Nations;
provided, that such a mother qualifies in her own right as to the requirements
of residence notwithstanding the failure of the deceased veteran to so qualify
at the time of his death and notwithstanding lack of proof of the actual
dependency of such a mother upon such a veteran at the time of his death. Such
benefits shall include payment of reasonable medical and hospital expenses in
accordance with regulations adopted by the commissioner and directives issued
and promulgated by him; provided, that no back benefits shall be paid beyond
the date of application.
Effective July first of every year, subject to appropriation, cities and towns
shall increase the basic budget of each eligible recipient, before taking into
consideration any available income and resources, by a percentage amount equal
to the percentage rise in the United States Consumer Price Index for January
first of that year over the level of said index for January first of the
previous year plus such additional percentage amount as is recommended annually
by the commissioner and appropriated by the general court.
The benefits provided herein shall include an amount for fuel in the winter
months for eligible veterans and dependents if they pay their own heating
costs.
Ch. 32, § 19. Exemption from Taxation, Attachments and Assignments; Exceptions.
The funds of each system established under the provisions of sections one to
twenty-eight, inclusive, so far as they are invested in personal property,
shall be exempt from taxation. The rights of a member to an annuity, pension or
retirement allowance, such annuity, pension or retirement allowance itself, and
all his rights in the funds of any system established under the provisions of
such sections, shall be exempt from taxation, including income taxes levied
under the provisions of chapter sixty-two, and from the operation of any law
relating to bankruptcy or insolvency and shall not be attached or taken upon
execution or other process. That portion of the estate of any deceased member
consisting of any sum or sums received from any system under the provisions of
sections one to twenty-eight, inclusive, shall not be included in computing any
legacy or succession tax under the provisions of chapter sixty-five. No
assignment of any right in or to any funds, annuities, pensions or retirement
allowances under any system shall be valid except such assignment as may be
made for the purpose of making restitution in the case of dereliction of duty
by any member as set forth in section fifteen, and except such assignment made
in writing by a retired member, authorizing the board to withhold each month
such amount as he may designate for the payment of subscriber premiums
applicable to a hospitalization, medical and surgical insurance, or to a life
insurance, in effect with a nonprofit hospital and medical service corporation
or insurance company at the time of his retirement, and except such assignment
made in writing by a retired member authorizing the board to withhold each
month such amount as he may designate for the payment of income taxes levied
under the Internal Revenue Code of the United States or the General Laws of the
commonwealth. No assignment shall be permitted in the case of a retired member
of the teachers' retirement system for the payment of the monthly premium for
an insurance policy issued under chapter thirty-two B, except as provided for
in section nineteen B of this chapter or in section twelve of chapter
thirty-two A. For persons making the election provided for in subdivision (1)
of section nineteen B, such premium payments shall be paid by the retired
member to the treasurer of the governmental unit to which the group policy
under which the member is insured was issued, in accordance with such
requirements as such treasurer may prescribe.
Nothing in this section shall prevent a member's annuity pension, retirement
allowance or return of accumulated total deductions from being attached, taken
on execution, assigned, or subject to other process to satisfy a support order
under chapter two hundred and eight, two hundred and nine, two hundred and nine
A, two hundred and nine C, two hundred and seventy-three, or received, entered
or registered pursuant to chapter 209D, or an assignment of marital property
under chapter two hundred and eight.
Ch. 152, § 47. Payment Not Assignable.
No payment shall be assignable or subject to attachment or be liable in any way
for debts, except to a veteran's agent or the commissioner of veterans'
services as and to the extent permitted by section five of chapter one hundred
and fifteen and except as permitted to the department of public welfare under
chapters eighteen, one hundred and seventeen, one hundred and eighteen, and the
division of medical assistance under one hundred and eighteen E, and except to
an obligee of support payments who is entitled to receive such payments
pursuant to a support order under chapter two hundred and eight, two hundred
and nine, two hundred and nine C, two hundred and seventy-three or two hundred
and nine D. The division shall permit a veteran's agent, the commissioner of
veteran's services, the department of public welfare and the division of
medical assistance to inspect the records of the division to ascertain the
existence of a claim for personal injuries filed with the division by any
employee under this chapter and the existence of any assignment, attachment, or
liability for debts permitted under the provisions of this section. This
section shall prevail over sections 9-405 and 9-407 of chapter 106 to the
extent, if any, that such sections might otherwise apply.
Ch. 151A, § 36. Benefits Not to be Assigned, etc.; Exemption From Claims of
Creditors, and From Levy, etc.
Benefits which are or may become due under this chapter shall not be assigned,
pledged, encumbered, released, commuted or trusteed before payment; and when
paid shall, as long as they are not mingled with other funds of the
beneficiary, be exempt from all claims of creditors, and from levy, execution
and attachment or other remedy now or hereafter provided for the recovery or
collection of debt, which exemption may not be waived.
Nothing in this section shall prevent benefits payable under this chapter from
being assigned, executed upon, trusteed, or otherwise attached when the purpose
of such assignment or attachment is to satisfy a support order under chapter
two hundred and eight, two hundred and nine, or two hundred and seventy-three
or to satisfy an order to provide child support issued pursuant to legal
process as defined in Section 462(e) of the Social Security Act.
Ch. 108A, § 25. Property Rights of Partner in Specific Property.
(1) A partner is co-owner with his partners of specific partnership property
holding as a tenant in partnership.
(2) The incidents of this tenancy are such that:
(a) A partner, subject to the provisions of this chapter and to any agreement
between the partners, has an equal right with his partners to possess specific
partnership property for partnership purposes; but he has no right to possess
such property for any other purpose without the consent of his partners.
(b) A partner's right in specific partnership property is not assignable except
in connection with the assignment of the rights of all the partners in the same
property.
(c) A partner's right in specific partnership property is not subject to
attachment or execution, except on a claim against the partnership. When
partnership property is attached for a partnership debt the partners, or any of
them, or the representatives of a deceased partner, cannot claim any right
under the homestead or exemption laws.
(d) On the death of a partner his right in specific partnership property vests
in the surviving partner or partners, except where the deceased was the last
surviving partner, when his right in such property vests in his legal
representative. Such surviving partner or partners, or the legal representative
of the last surviving partner, has no right to possess the partnership property
for any but a partnership purpose.
(e) A partner's right in specific partnership property is not subject to dower,
curtesy, or allowances to widows, heirs, or next of kin.
Note: Exemptions may have changed since our last update. For the latest updates on these property exemptions, speak to a local bankruptcy lawyer.
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