Wild card exemptions and bank accounts....

[my4devils]

I have seen alot of posts about going into 341 with next to nothing in the bank account. Can we use our wild card exemptions (950 per person federal) to cover the balance? The money left is what we would like to keep from our tax return after we pay the attorney. IF that wouldnt fly then we have some more spending to do.

[yoyoma51]

We did the federal exemptions and used the wildcard and homestead exemptions (we own about what our home is worth, so we can use $20k exemption for anything else) for cash on hand and other paid-for assets.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Yes, wildcard is what I used to exempt my (admittedly tiny! ) bank balances when filing. No matter how miniscule the actual balance, you have to go ahead and exempt them anyway or that amount becomes collectable by the bk estate, whether it's $30 or $3000. The purpose in minimizing the balance is to make more of your exemptions available for other items; Florida, for example, has only a $1000 vehicle exemption, so minimizing a bank acct to free up that wildcard for my vehicle (which is worth more than $1000) makes a great deal of sense. Good luck!!!

[dp1969]

Same here.
We are surrendering our home so the "homestead" and "wildcard" are going for the car (s) and the boat. I listed two printers in my office equipment for a total of $5. It looks so stupid on Schedule C and is part of the "homestead/wildcard". Hope that $5 doesn't put us over.