Washington Post on Garnishment Of Social Security Benefits

... [I]n some cases, the actions of the financial institutions in carrying out court [garnishment] orders are of questionable legality, according to a new report by the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General.

The inspector general found that some financial institutions are apparently violating federal law by garnishing accounts that receive electronic deposits of old age, survivors and disabilityAn impairment that qualifies as a disability under Social Security Administration (SSA) guidelines must be quite serious. The impairment must render the applicant unable to perform any substantial gainful activity — that is, the applicant must not be able to earn more than a minimum amount of money, determined each year by the SSA. The impairment must completely disable the applicant from working. It must be expected to last for a year, have already lasted a year or be expected to cause the applicant's death. But this is not the end of the qualifying tests. insurance, and/or supplemental security incomeA Federal supplemental income program funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes). It helps aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income by providing monthly cash payments to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. payments. These funds are supposed to be protected from creditors except under certain conditions. ...

During a 12-month period beginning September 2006, the 12 largest banks took $1 million from accounts that held only government benefits. An additional $29 million was taken from accounts that held government benefits money mixed with cash from other sources, according to the report. The inspector general also found in some cases that banks were charging legal processing fees, overdraft charges or insufficient-funds charges as the result of a garnishment.

Although the sample size in this investigation was relatively small, the inspector general's report concluded that if all financial institutions followed the pattern of those investigated, as much as $177.7 million in garnishments could be attributable to beneficiaries receiving direct deposit of Social Security benefits.

And here is a link to the Inspector General report.