Massachusetts General Laws ch. 175 sec. 132C – Group annuity contract; exemption from process; exception
Section 132C. 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.
Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 175 sec. 132C
- 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.
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
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.