Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110
§407 Assignment of Benefits
Title 42 › CHAPTER 7 — SOCIAL SECURITY › SUBCHAPTER II — FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS, AND DISABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS › § 407
Summary
You cannot transfer future payments from these benefits; creditors, courts, or bankruptcy law cannot take them. No law made before, on, or after April 20, 1983 can change this unless it expressly mentions this rule, but taxes may be withheld if the beneficiary or representative payee requests it under section 3402(p)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
Full Legal Text
Title 42, §407
The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)In general
The right of any person to any future payment under this subchapter shall not be transferable or assignable, at law or in equity, and none of the moneys paid or payable or rights existing under this subchapter shall be subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process, or to the operation of any bankruptcy or insolvency law.
(b)Amendment of section (c) Withholding of taxes
No other provision of law, enacted before, on, or after April 20, 1983, may be construed to limit, supersede, or otherwise modify the provisions of this section except to the extent that it does so by express reference to this section.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The Internal Revenue Code of 1986, referred to in subsec. (c), is classified generally to Title 26, Internal Revenue Code. Codification In subsec. (b), “April 20, 1983” substituted for “the date of the enactment of this section”, which was translated as meaning the date of enactment of this subsection, as the probable intent of Congress.
Amendments
1998—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 105–277 added subsec. (c). 1983—Pub. L. 98–21 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b). 1939—Act Aug. 10, 1939, amended section generally, incorporating provisions of former section 408 of this title.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1983 Amendment Pub. L. 98–21, title III, § 335(c), Apr. 20, 1983, 97 Stat. 130, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply only with respect to benefits payable or rights existing under the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.] on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Apr. 20, 1983].”
Effective Date
of 1939 AmendmentAct Aug. 10, 1939, ch. 666, title II, § 201, 53 Stat. 1362, provided that the amendment made by that section is effective Jan. 1, 1940.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
42 U.S.C. § 407
Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110