Mass. Gen. Laws » Part III Title IV Chapter 246
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 246, § 32 (2026)

Claims not attachable by trustee process

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 32. No person shall be adjudged a trustee in the following cases:

First, By reason of having drawn, accepted, made or endorsed a negotiable bill, draft, note or other security which at the date of the summons was negotiable to a holder in due course under the provisions of chapter one hundred and six.

Second, By reason of having received or collected money or any other thing as a sheriff or other officer upon an execution or other legal process in favor of the defendant in the trustee process, although it may have been demanded of him by the defendant.

Third, By reason of having money in his hands as a public officer, for which he is accountable to the defendant merely as such officer.

Fourth, By reason of money or any other thing due from him to the defendant, unless it is, at the time of service of the summons upon him, due absolutely and without any contingency; provided, however, that nothing herein shall prevent the attachment by means of trustee process of an obligor's wages, pension or other compensation for employment in an action pursuant to section thirty-six A of chapter two hundred and eight.

Fifth, By reason of a debt due from him upon a judgment, so long as he is liable to an execution thereon.

Sixth, By reason of money or credits due for the wages of personal labor or services of the wife or minor children of the defendant.

Seventh, By reason of money or credits due or accruing to the defendant as wages or lay as a seaman; but this clause shall not apply to the wages or lay due or accruing to a fisherman.

Eighth, By reason of money or credits due for the wages of personal labor or services of the defendant, unless such attachment is made in an action brought upon a judgment, is upon money or credits not exempt from execution pursuant to section thirty-four of chapter two hundred and thirty-five and is authorized in advance by written permission endorsed upon the complaint and signed by a justice, associate justice or special justice of the court in which the action is commenced. Application to said justice, associate justice or special justice of the court for permission for said attachment shall be made only after ten days' written notice has been delivered or sent by registered mail, return receipt requested, to the defendant at his last known address, place of business or employment. Such notice shall contain the name of the plaintiff, the name of the court in which the action is to be commenced, the nature of the claim, the time and place such application will be made, and shall inform the defendant that he is entitled to be present and be heard at said time and place if he objects to the granting of said application. A copy of said notice and a certificate of the person sending or delivering said notice shall be evidence thereof. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions relating to notice, if said justice, associate justice or special justice finds in his discretion that compliance with said provisions relating to notice will unreasonably delay and hinder justice, he may authorize the attachment with a shorter notice, or without notice, to the defendant. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to actions for trustee process to enforce support obligations pursuant to section thirty-six A of chapter two hundred and eight.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 13 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1925–2024 · leading case: Papamechail v. Holyoke Mut. Ins. Co., 397 N.E.2d 1153 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979).
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Papamechail v. Holyoke Mut. Ins. Co., 397 N.E.2d 1153 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979). “G. L. c. 246, § 32, Fourth. In his order for judgment the judge directed that the original check issued by Holyoke be returned to it and that a new check for $22,203.”
Orange Hardware Co. v. Ryan, 172 N.E. 654 (Mass. 1930). · cites it 2× “G. L. c. 246, § 32, provides: “No person shall be adjudged a trustee in the following cases .”
Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Rodco Autobody, 965 F. Supp. 104 (D. Mass. 1996). “§ 1673 (a)(1); 7 (3) wages or salary of the debtor except on claims, such as the one at bar, which have been reduced to a judgment, and then only in an amount in excess of $125 per week, Mass. Gen. L. ch. 246, § 28; Mass. Gen. L.”
Microwave Antenna Sys. & Tech., Inc. v. Whitney-Pehl Constr. Co., 498 N.E.2d 1059 (Mass. App. Ct. 1986). “First, in his findings in the first case, the judge stated that he was drawing the inference that Microwave was holding in its possession, as trustee, the sum of $28,000 on account of services performed by Whitney-Pehl and that those sums were “due absolutely and without…”
Lowel-Light Mfg., Inc. v. Fed. Deposit Ins., 848 F. Supp. 278 (D. Mass. 1994). “Mass. Gen.L. ch. 246, § 32. Lowel-Light argues that the attorneys for the parties in the shareholders action held the funds for Super Hoof as public officers since the Escrow Account was created pursuant to Court Order and therefore such funds are not attachable by trustee…”
deBenedictis v. Dougherty (In re Dougherty), 509 B.R. 757 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2014). “See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 246, § 32 ; Singarella v.”
U.S. Trust v. Am. Travel, Inc., 4 Mass. L. Rptr. 310 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1995). · cites it 4× “Under G.L.c. 246, §32(8) wages for personal labor may be attached on trustee process only if certain conditions are met.”
Quinn v. Dille, 1987 Mass. App. Div. 101 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 1987). “Great American, the maker of such draft, is patently exempt from trustee process as this check is a negotiable instrument within the purview of G.L. c. 246, § 32. Section 32 expressly exempts from trustee process any person who has “drawn, accepted, made, or endorsed a…”
Eno v. McGinn (Mass. App. Ct. 2024). “See G. L. c. 246, § 32, eighth par.; Mass. R.”
United States Shipping Bd. Emergency Fleet Corp. v. Atl. Corp., 5 F.2d 529 (D. Mass. 1925). “” If this reason for the rule is adopted as the controlling one, the Massachusetts statute (G. L. c. 246, § 32), which provides that no person shall be adjudged a trustee by reason of money due from him to the defendant unless it is, at the time of the service of the writ upon…”
Plymouth Rock Transp. Corp. v. Saltman Bros. Inc., 13 Mass. App. Dec. 198 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 1957). “If nothing is due from the trustee at that time 'absolutely and without any contingency,’ G. L. c. 246 §32, Fourth, nothing is caught by the trustee *204 process.”
Macquarrie v. Balch, 47 Mass. App. Dec. 170 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 1972). “The interest of our Legislature in workingmen is evidenced by the restrictions on the power of garnishing wages by the provisions of G.L. c. 246, § 32 (8). Having evinced so much concern for the debtor class, is it conceivable that it would have remained silent with respect to…”
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— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 246, § 32(8) — 1 case
U.S. Trust v. Am. Travel, Inc., 4 Mass. L. Rptr. 310 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1995). “Under G.L.c. 246, §32(8) wages for personal labor may be attached on trustee process only if certain conditions are met.”
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 246, § 32(a) — 1 case
U.S. Trust v. Am. Travel, Inc., 4 Mass. L. Rptr. 310 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1995). “Under G.L.c. 246, §32(8) wages for personal labor may be attached on trustee process only if certain conditions are met.”
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