OK, readers. It’s time for a pop quiz. How many non bankruptcy, federal exemptions can you name? 1. 2. 3. If you didn’t get past the exemption for Social Security, read on. Section 522 (b)(3)(a) provides that a debtor who elects the applicable state law exemptions can also exempt property under federal, non bankruptcy exemptions. […]
Tell Them Apart: Exempt and Exclude
New and not so new bankruptcy lawyers muddle the difference between “exempt” and “exclude“. It makes a world of difference. You have to make the call when listing property of the bankruptcy estate, usually various kinds of retirement assets. All of the debtor’s assets and legal rights come into the estate. Exemptions allow you to […]
Get Exemption Claims Under The Limit
The rookie bankruptcy lawyer was clearly proficient at math, but forgot the bankruptcy administration end game: money for creditors. The client owned two assets with apparent equity and the available grubstake did not cover both. The attorney had calculated the equity in the home thus: (Fair market value) less (mortgage balance) less (exemption) = equity […]
A Bankruptcy Exemption Planning Basic
The most elemental exemption planning tool is to save exempt assets while consuming non exempt assets. It doesn’t require last minute transfers or fundamental alterations in the way assets are held. It simply requires attention to which pocket the debtor pays bills from. Clients who receive Social Security, disability, or other forms of income that […]
Bankruptcy Exemption Mistakes Feed Trustee Coffers
Bankruptcy lawyers who mess up claims of exemptions were the other target of the trustee’s attorney I spoke with earlier this week. He rubbed his hands over attorneys who hadn’t collected enough information to understand the asset or who simply didn’t know that the homestead exemption didn’t apply to property other than the debtor’s residence. […]
Bankruptcy Exemptions: 10 Ways to Deal with Excess Cash
Bankruptcy lawyers occasionally are confronted with the client with more cash, or other marketable assets, worth more than the available exemptions to protect them. And state exemption systems often protect the darndest things, like a mule and a plow. A milk cow. The family bible. Those aren’t the things most of us are striving to […]
Exemption Choices for the Recently Mobile
Old and new consumer bankruptcy lawyers have a treasure in John Bates’ masterpiece on the exemption laws of each state and the availability of those laws to non residents in bankruptcy. Why do I care what the exemptions are in any state but California? The Bankruptcy Code! ( what other answer did you expect from […]
