Bank Levy — Protected Federal Benefits Calculator
Since 2011, federal rule (31 CFR Part 212) requires banks to automatically protect an amount equal to two months' worth of Social Security, SSI, VA, and certain other federal benefits, if they arrived by direct deposit — regardless of which state you're in. Enter your monthly benefit amounts below to see your protected total. See bank account levy for what to do if this money got frozen anyway.
| Monthly benefit total | Automatically protected |
|---|---|
| $800/mo | $1,600 |
| $1,200/mo | $2,400 |
| $1,800/mo | $3,600 |
| $2,400/mo | $4,800 |
Protected amount = two months' worth of your combined monthly federal benefit deposits.
This only covers the federal 2-month-lookback protection for the benefit types listed above — it doesn't account for other state-specific exemptions, which vary a lot and aren't included here (check your state's page for those). This protection also depends on the bank being able to trace the deposit back to its federal source — money that's been withdrawn and redeposited, or mixed with other funds, can lose the automatic tracing. Not legal advice. If protected money was frozen anyway, see bank account levy for what to do next.