Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 246, § 20 (2026)

Effect of attachment

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 20. The goods, effects or credits of the defendant intrusted to, or deposited in the hands or possession of, a person summoned as his trustee shall, except as hereinafter provided, be attached and held to respond to the final judgment, as if they had been attached upon an original writ of attachment; provided, that any moneys of the defendant deposited in any account designated as a payroll account shall not be subject to attachment hereunder. Any defendant who deposits moneys in such payroll account with intent to evade attachment by trustee process shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than three months, or both. If such a deposit or deposits are made by a corporation, the president and the treasurer and any other officer or agent causing such deposit or deposits to have been made shall be subject to prosecution as defendants under this section, and each of such persons shall be jointly and severally civilly liable to the plaintiff for any loss suffered by the making of such deposit or deposits.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 7 cases, 1930–2016 · leading case: Rubin v. Islamic Repub. of Iran, 810 F. Supp. 2d 402 (D. Mass. 2011).

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Rubin v. Islamic Repub. of Iran, 810 F. Supp. 2d 402 (D. Mass. 2011). · cites it 2× “) Chapter 246 of the Massachusetts General Laws provides that “the goods, effects or credits of the defendant” in the possession of a trustee may be “attached and held to respond to the final judgment,” M.G.L. c. 246, § 20, and that the trustee must deliver the attached property…”

Randall v. Haddad, 468 Mass. 347 (Mass. 2014). “246, a plaintiff bringing an action to recover a money judgment may name a “person” holding property in which the defendant has rights as a “trustee” to hold that property as security for the anticipated judgment.”

Latorraca v. Taniki Fin. Corp., 393 F. App'x 730 (1st Cir. 2010). “Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 246, § 20 . The trustee process, as it is called, has two key steps.”

In re Rielly, 545 B.R. 435 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2016). “See also Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 246, § 20 (credits of the defendant are attached when trustee is summoned).”

Cent. Trust Co. v. Nat'l Biscuit Co., 173 N.E. 695 (Mass. 1930). “G. L. c. 246, § 20. The facts to which the parties agreed would not justify the conclusion that the defendant had made itself liable by fraud, delay in answering, or by any failure to act in good faith in performing any duty it owed the plaintiff.”

U.S. Elec. Servs., Inc. v. D.C. Kaufman Elec., Inc., 32 Mass. L. Rptr. 599 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2015). “It is clear that while the defendant’s account at the Watertown Savings Bank may have been used to make payroll payments it was not designated as a payroll account as required by G.L.c. 246, §20 at the time of the two trustee process attachments.”

Venditto v. Bruno, 11 Mass. App. Dec. 184 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 1956). “G. L. c. 246, §20. The question arises whether by force of G.”

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