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Social Security Act 2018

Other provisions - Benefits to be inalienable

417: Benefits cannot, in general, be assigned or charged, or pass by operation of law

You could also call this:

“Your benefit is protected and usually can't be given away or taken from you”

You can’t give your benefit to someone else or use it as security for a loan. Your benefit also can’t be taken away from you by legal processes. This rule is in place to protect your benefit.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule. These exceptions are found in other laws, such as the ones about family benefits for home ownership, child support, and student loans. These laws might allow your benefit to be used in specific ways.

It’s important to know that it’s against the law for anyone to ask you to promise or agree to give away your benefit. This rule is there to protect you and your benefit.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6783986.

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416: What this Part does, or

“This part explains the rules about benefits and how they work”

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418: Regulations: general, or

“Rules can be made to help the Social Security Act work properly”

Part 8 Other provisions
Benefits to be inalienable

417Benefits cannot, in general, be assigned or charged, or pass by operation of law

  1. No benefit is capable of being assigned or charged, or of passing to any other person by operation of law.

  2. Subsection (1) is overridden by contrary provisions in, or in regulations made under or for the purposes of, the following enactments:

  3. sections 337 to 350, 366 to 372, 442, and 443:
    1. Family Benefits (Home Ownership) Act 1964:
      1. Child Support Act 1991:
        1. Student Loan Scheme Act 2011.

          1. This section does not limit section 293 (offence of demanding or accepting acknowledgment or undertaking).

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