Roosevelt Wallace - Page 13




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               Since there is nothing on the face of 38 U.S.C. section                
          5301(a) (2000) that indicates that Congress intended the term               
          “benefit” to have anything other than a common meaning, we                  
          consider dictionary definitions of the term to inform ourselves             
          of the definition that Congress may have had in mind.  Excluding            
          meanings that are obviously inappropriate (e.g., “an                        
          entertainment or social event”), Webster’s Third New                        
          International Dictionary defines the term “benefit” as (1)                  
          “something that guards, aids, or promotes well being” or “useful            
          aid”, and (2) “PAYMENT, GIFT, as a : financial help in time of              
          sickness, old age, or unemployment * * * c : a cash payment or              
          service provided for under an annuity, pension plan, or insurance           

               4(...continued)                                                        
               authorized by law, and such payments made to, or on                    
               account of, a beneficiary shall be exempt from                         
               taxation, shall be exempt from the claim of creditors,                 
               and shall not be liable to attachment, levy, or seizure                
               by or under any legal or equitable process whatever,                   
               either before or after receipt by the beneficiary.  The                
               preceding sentence shall not apply to claims of the                    
               United States arising under such laws nor shall the                    
               exemption therein contained as to taxation extend to                   
               any property purchased in part or wholly out of such                   
               payments.  The provisions of this section shall not be                 
               construed to prohibit the assignment of insurance                      
               otherwise authorized under chapter 19 of this title, or                
               of servicemen's indemnity.  For the purposes of this                   
               subsection, in any case where a payee of an educational                
               assistance allowance has designated the address of an                  
               attorney-in-fact as the payee's address for the purpose                
               of receiving a benefit check and has also executed a                   
               power of attorney giving the attorney-in-fact authority                
               to negotiate such benefit check, such action shall be                  
               deemed to be an assignment and is prohibited.                          






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