Section 207 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 407) protects Social Security benefits from assignment, levy, or garnishment. However, the law provides five exceptions:

• Section
  459 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 659) allows Social Security benefits to be
  garnished to enforce child support and/or alimony obligations;
• Section
  6334 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 6334 (c)) allows
  benefits to be levied to collect unpaid Federal taxes;
• Section
  3402 (P) of the Internal Revenue Code allows beneficiaries to elect to
  have a percentage of their benefits withheld and paid to the Internal
  Revenue Service to satisfy their Federal income tax liability for the
  current year;
• The Debt Collection
  Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-134) allows benefits to be withheld and
  paid to another Federal agency to pay a non-tax debt the beneficiary
  owes to that agency: and
• The Tax Payer
  Relief Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-34) authorizes the Internal Revenue
  Service to collect overdue federal tax debts of beneficiaries by
  levying up to 15 percent of each monthly payment until the debt is paid.

The
Social Security Administration’s responsibility for protecting benefits
against legal process and assignment usually ends when the beneficiary
is paid. However, once paid, benefits continue to be protected under
section 207 of the Act as long as they are identifiable as Social
Security benefits using normal banking practices. For example, only
social security benefits are deposited into a particular bank account.

If a creditor tries to garnish your social security
check, inform them that unless one of the five exceptions apply, your
benefits can not be garnished. You also may want to provide this same
information to your financial institution and seek legal assistance if
you believe it is needed.