Short answer. No. Employees' compensation benefits for a work-connected injury or illness cannot be attached, garnished, levied on or seized by any legal process, and they cannot be assigned to anyone. The only exception the law itself allows is a debt you owe to the System that pays the benefit.
What the law says
No claim for compensation under this Title is transferable or liable to tax, attachment, garnishment, levy or seizure by or under any legal process whatsoever, either before or after receipt by the person or persons entitled thereto, except to pay any debt of the employee to the System.
Labor Code, Article 198 — Assignment Of Benefits. Read the full provision →
The protection is deliberately absolute
Read the words carefully, because each one is doing work. The benefit is not merely hard to reach — it is not transferable, not liable to tax, and beyond attachment, garnishment, levy or seizure. The phrase "by or under any legal process whatsoever" closes the usual escape routes: a court writ, a sheriff's levy, an administrative order. And the shield operates "either before or after receipt", so a creditor cannot simply wait for the money to land in your hands and pounce on it then. The policy behind this is not charity. A worker who has lost earning capacity is meant to have that replacement income for living, medical care and dependants.
What a creditor will try, and why it does not work
A creditor with a judgment normally garnishes wages or a bank account. Against a compensation claim that route is closed by the statute itself. Neither can the creditor pressure you into signing the claim over — the non-transferability clause means an assignment, a deed of waiver or a promise to endorse the proceeds is not a valid way around the rule. If a garnishment order has already been issued against funds that are in truth employees' compensation proceeds, the answer is to bring the exemption to the attention of the court or officer that issued the writ, with proof of what the money is. The exemption has to be raised; nobody applies it for you.
The single exception, and what falls outside the shield
The one carve-out is a debt you owe to the System itself — for instance, an overpayment or an advance it must recover. That is the only deduction the article contemplates. Just as important is what this protection does not cover. It shields a claim for compensation under this Title. It is not a general declaration that everything you own is exempt: your salary from a new job, your savings unconnected to the benefit, your vehicle or land remain ordinary assets a judgment creditor may pursue. Nor does it erase the debt. The obligation survives; only this particular fund is placed out of reach.
Practical steps if your benefit is being taken
Keep the proceeds identifiable. Money that is mixed into a general account with wages, business receipts and transfers becomes harder to prove as exempt, and the burden of tracing it is yours. Keep the award or voucher, the deposit slips and the account statements. If a bank has frozen an account holding the benefit, or an employer has begun deducting from it to satisfy someone else's claim, act promptly rather than waiting for the case to end. Whether a particular fund qualifies, and how the exemption is asserted in your case, depends on the documents — this is general information, not advice on your situation.