Short answer. It depends on what your parents specified when the annuity was created. Under Article 2026, if the person who set up a gratuitous annuity included a clause making it exempt from execution or attachment, your creditors cannot touch those payments — unless the annuity was set up to defraud them.
What the law says
He who constitutes an annuity by gratuitous title upon his property, may provide at the time the annuity is established that the same shall not be subject to execution or attachment on account of the obligations of the recipient of the annuity.
Civil Code, Article 2026 — Annuity Exempt From Execution. Read the full provision →
The protection depends on a clause inserted at the start
Article 2026 gives the grantor — the person setting up the annuity — the power to shield the income from the recipient's creditors. But this protection is not automatic. It must be expressly included at the time the annuity is established. Your parents would need to have included language in the annuity deed or contract stating that the income shall not be subject to execution or attachment on account of your debts. If that clause is there, your creditors are blocked. If it was never included, the ordinary rules apply and the payments can potentially be reached.
Only gratuitous annuities can carry this protection
Article 2026 applies to annuities constituted by gratuitous title — meaning given as a gift, without the recipient paying for it. An annuity you purchased yourself for value cannot carry this exemption clause; only one freely given by a donor can include it. Your parents' annuity in your favor qualifies as gratuitous. If you had instead funded the annuity yourself through premium payments, the exemption mechanism would not be available, and your creditors would have a stronger claim to the income stream.
The fraud exception overrides the protection
Even a properly worded exemption clause is not absolute. Article 2026 carves out an exception: if the annuity was constituted in fraud of creditors, those creditors may ask for execution or attachment of the property. This means that if your parents set up the annuity specifically to put assets out of reach of existing debts — not as a genuine gift but as a shield against collection — a court can look past the exemption clause. The timing and circumstances of the annuity's creation become relevant in any challenge based on fraud.
What to do if a creditor threatens to attach your payments
If a creditor attempts to attach your annuity income, the first step is to locate the original annuity document and look for an exemption clause. If the clause exists and was validly included at the time of establishment, you have a basis to oppose the attachment. Present that document to the court or the sheriff carrying out the attachment. If the clause is absent, or if the creditor raises the fraud exception, the legal situation becomes more contested and the specific facts — your parents' financial situation when the annuity was created, their intent, and the timeline relative to when your debts arose — will all matter. Legal advice tailored to those facts is the appropriate next step.