Massachusetts General Laws ch. 246 sec. 28 – Wages and pensions; exemptions; exceptions
Section 28. If wages for personal labor or personal services of a defendant are attached for a debt or claim, an amount not exceeding the greater of 85 per cent of the debtor’s gross wages or 50 times the greater of the federal or the Massachusetts hourly minimum wage for each week or portion thereof 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.
Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 246 sec. 28
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
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.