Social benefits and garnishment: which payments are protected
Enter your SGB II benefit, any side income and the people you support: the tool shows which part of the credits a P-account protects and what would be attachable.
Attachable from the account per month
€66
Protected: €1,590 out of €1,656 credited.
| Base amount | €1,590 |
| SGB II benefit above the base | €0 |
| Dependants | €0 |
The SGB II claim itself cannot be garnished (section 42(4) SGB II); on a P-account the part above the base is protected under section 902 sentence 1 no. 4 ZPO, with a certificate.
Prepared by Radif Partners · How we calculate · 2026 table (Federal Law Gazette 2026 I No. 80) and ZPO checked on 28 October 2026
Whether a German social benefit can be garnished is set by section 54 of Social Code I in four tiers. Non-cash help, meaning services and items, always stays free. One-off cash payments only where fair in the circumstances. Some recurring benefits are protected fully or up to a limit, such as housing benefit or parental allowance up to €300. All other recurring cash benefits, for example unemployment benefit (Arbeitslosengeld), sickness benefit (Krankengeld) or a pension, are garnished like earned income under the table. Grundsicherungsgeld (basic income support, früher Bürgergeld) is fully excluded: the claim can be neither assigned nor garnished under section 42(4) SGB II. Once paid into a P-account, the allowance takes over. If your own Social Code II or XII benefit exceeds the €1,590 base amount, the excess is protected (section 902 sentence 1 no. 4 ZPO); on a €1,750 benefit, €1,750 stays free. If a mini-job paying €556 comes on top of €1,100 in basic income support, the credits exceed the base by €66, and that part would be attachable without a further top-up. Back-payments of these benefits are protected with no cap.
Four tiers under section 54 of Social Code I
The Social Code treats benefits differently depending on their kind. Section 54 of Social Code I starts with the strongest protection: claims to services and benefits in kind cannot be garnished. For cash there is a scale. Under subsection 2, one-off payments are attachable only where that is fair in the individual case; the court weighs your income and assets, the kind of claim, and the amount and purpose of the payment.
Subsection 3 lists recurring benefits that are exempt fully or up to a limit: parental allowance up to the disregarded amounts, maternity pay within a similar limit, housing benefit and money for extra costs caused by a disability; details on exempt income. Everything else falls under subsection 4: recurring cash benefits are garnished like earned income. That covers unemployment benefit, sickness benefit and pensions, which have their own page on pension garnishment. The quick check shows where a benefit stands.
Unemployment benefit I, sickness benefit
Unemployment benefit I, sickness benefit
Attachable like earned income
| Fully exempt | 4 |
| Attachable like wages | 3 |
Basic income support: exempt, but in the account the allowance counts
Under section 19 of Social Code II, people able to work receive Grundsicherungsgeld (früher Bürgergeld), basic income support. Section 42(4) SGB II protects the claim completely: it can be neither assigned, transferred, pledged nor garnished. A creditor therefore cannot intercept the benefit at the paying body.
Once the money is in your account, P-account law applies. In principle the €1,590 base amount protects it. If your own benefit under Social Code II or XII or the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act is higher, the excess is protected as well (section 902 sentence 1 no. 4 ZPO). If you receive benefits for members of your joint benefit household whom you owe no maintenance, the allowance rises under no. 1(b). One-off benefits and money for extra costs of a health condition are free under no. 2. For every top-up the bank needs a certificate, which the paying body must issue on request; more under the P-account certificate.
| Basic income support | Wages or mini-job | Dependants | Protected | Attachable from account |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €1,100 | €0 | 0 | €1,590.00 | €0.00 |
| €1,100 | €556 | 0 | €1,590.00 | €66.00 |
| €1,750 | €0 | 0 | €1,750.00 | €0.00 |
| €1,750 | €300 | 0 | €1,750.00 | €300.00 |
| €1,400 | €556 | 1 | €2,187.42 | €0.00 |
The table shows a consequence of the rule: the top-up under no. 4 protects only the benefit itself where it exceeds the base. Side earnings add to the credits but do not raise the allowance. Someone receiving €1,100 in basic income support and €556 in wages goes over the base by €66. The calculation reflects only the rules of sections 899 and 902 ZPO, not a court decision in an individual case.
Back-payments and combining incomes
If basic income support, Social Code XII assistance or asylum seeker benefits are paid for past months, the back-payment is excluded from the account garnishment with no cap under section 904(1) ZPO. For other recurring benefits such as unemployment or sickness benefit, a €500 limit applies, with a month-by-month check above it. Details are under back-payments on a P-account.
In a wage garnishment the enforcement court can, on application, add attachable recurring social benefits to earned income (section 850e no. 2a ZPO). The basic exemption is then taken primarily from the benefit, except in a garnishment for maintenance. How much more of your wages that makes attachable is worked out under multiple incomes.