45 U.S.C. § 231m — Assignability; exemption from levy

(a) Except as allowed in subsection (b) and under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, no annuity or supplemental annuity can be assigned to someone else, taxed, or taken through garnishment, attachment, or any other legal process — no matter what other federal, state, territorial, or District of Columbia law might otherwise allow. This same protection means the payments also can't be anticipated, meaning paid or borrowed against ahead of time. (b)(1) This protection does not stop a supplemental annuity paid under section 231a(b) from being counted as taxable income under the federal income tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. (2) This protection also does not stop a court from treating part of an annuity under this law — specifically, the part not computed under section 231b(a), 231c(a), or 231c(f) — or any part of a supplemental annuity, as community property that can be divided under a court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation, or under a court-approved property settlement tied to such a decree. The Board must pay out those portions the way the characterization, decree, or settlement directs. (3)(A) These divorce-related payments don't require that the employee already be entitled to their own annuity under section 231a(a)(1). But if the employee isn't yet entitled to one, payments to the spouse or former spouse can't begin until three conditions are all met: the employee has completed ten years of railroad service (or five or more years, all earned after December 31, 1995); the spouse or former spouse has turned 62; and the employee has turned 62, or would have turned 62 if the employee has died. (B) These divorce-related payments stop when the spouse or former spouse dies, unless the court document sets an earlier end date. And no matter what the court order says, the portion of the payment that represents amounts computed under section 231b(f)(2) always stops being paid once the employee dies. (C) If the employee isn't entitled to an annuity under section 231a(a)(1), these divorce-related payments are still computed as though the employee were entitled to one.