33 U.S.C. § 916
Section 916 · Assignment and exemption from claims of creditors
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 52 court decisions — leading case Goff v. Taylor (1983)
Most recently applied in Gonzalez v. Google, Inc. (October 2017)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
No assignment, release, or commutation of compensation or benefits due or payable under this chapter, except as provided by this chapter, shall be valid, and such compensation and benefits shall be exempt from all claims of creditors and from levy, execution, and attachment or other remedy for recovery or collection of a debt, which exemption may not be waived.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Execution, see rule 69, Title 28, Appendix, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Continuation of section, see also note by Advisory Committee under that rule.
Cross References
Settlement of claim, where deputy commissioner determines it is for best interest of injured employee, notwithstanding provisions of this section, see section 908 of this title.