Can Life Insurance Money Be Garnished? 
If you are the beneficiary of a life insurance policy and you have a wage garnishment out against you , what can be garnished depends on the rules of the state . Federal law sets limits on what can be garnished , but states can add to those limitations . Consult an attorney if your wages are being garnished and you are set to become the beneficiary of a life insurance policy , or have recently received proceeds of a life insurance policy . If it is the deceased person who was insured by the life insurance policy whose wage were being garnished , or who owed substantial debt , the money received by the beneficiary is usually safe from creditors to whom the deceased owed money . If the insured person left his money to his estate , or there were no living beneficiaries on his policy to receive the death benefit , then creditors have access to money left to the estate . But money left to a person as beneficiary belongs to the beneficiary and is not accessible to creditors for the deceased . 