exemption

[imdk2005]

OK, not sure where to start this question? I am legally married to my same sex partner so even though the state of Massachusetts recognizes us as a married couple the federal government does not. so we will need to file as BK as single person. This leads to my chapter 7 question since we have to file separate will the bank accounts and stocks and un secure debts be looked as one person owning them twice? example the bank account is a joint account so not all moneys belong to just one of us and since we are both joint on everything. The credit cards are set up as one being the primary owner on some and an authorized user on others and vis versa. should we leave all our accounts as they are joint or should we take one name off and open accounts in each name separate? I guess what I am asking will the trustee look at the bank account as being owned just by one of us since the fed's don't recognize us as married? We need to be able to hold some money for emergencies as I have lost my job and with out it we will not be able to pay all of our secure debt without it and if they look at what's in the account as belonging to only one person then it will probable be to much and the trustee will take.. Thanks for any advise you have.

btw, we have been told by an attorney that we qualify for chapter 7 but I am still not getting any comfort as to how much money we maybe able to exempt. Not sure if I am doing this too soon or not. I do know that as of next month I will not be able to pay any secure debt as I have lost my job and need all the money that will be coming into the house hold for our secure debt. my partner makes less than half of what I was making so we will not be able to come close to paying any un secure debt. - we plan on keeping our house and have no equity in it - it's worth less than what we owe right now. but we do have about 15,000 cash in the bank and I will be getting a severance package of 24 weeks pay in one lump sum about 20,000 and don't want this to be taken to pay off the creditors as than I will not even be able to pay my secure debt and will end up with nothing for an emergencies if one were to happen. so bottom line is I am trying to find out how much if any can one exempt of cash, stocks?

[SMinGA]

Doesn't seem right that you have to pay 2 filing fees, 2 atty fees, etc. But fighting the federal govt would take ages & its probably less stressful to just get the bk filings over with.

For assets owned with another person, you should be able to claim 1/2 ownership.
For debts, being an authorized user on the account is not the same as having a joint account. Joint = both are responsible for payment. If one files, the other becomes the sole person responsible for payment. AU means you are not responsible at all for payment. If you're not sure which accounts are joint and which are AU, there is no harm in each of you listing all the accounts joint just to cover all bases.

As to what you can exempt, it depends on your state of residence. If you have lived in the same state as now for the past 2 years, that is the state's exemptions you use. (Though some states allow you to choose the state or federal. Some states you MUST use the state exemptions though.) If you have moved in the past 2 years, I'm a little cloudy on how to determine which exemptions you use.

Once you figure out which exemptions - and your atty should be able to clarify that - you would each get the full 'set' of exemptions but would only need to protect your own assets. If you jointly own a car with $4500 equity, then $2250 of the equity would be yours and $2250 of it would belong to your partner. You would pretty much need to determine who owns what individually, and what is owned collectively. (Filing as married even has a column to list what assets belong to the Husband, Wife, and what is owned Jointly. But its not really important. Since you'll have to file 2 cases, you will need to decide who owns what.)

[SMinGA]

ps-about the $ in the bank and the upcoming severance package... Since you have not yet filed, this is the time to really figure out your exemptions AND what you can use the $ on before filing.

Using funds to pay living expenses, secured payments (car, house) are fine. You can pay for needed car/home repairs, clothing, medical treatment, etc. You should not buy luxury items of course.

[imdk2005]

exemption of cash

This is great feed back I appreciate it very much. do you know if we can hold onto any money in our checking account and stocks? if so how much can we have? we live in Massachusetts and will use the federal exemptions i just don't know what they are.

[imdk2005]

ps: The fed's Wild card is - $1,075 of any property plus up to $10,125 of any amount of unused homestead exemption since I have no equity in my home can i keep up to 10,125 in the bank for emegency founds?

[imdk2005]

ps, the fed's Wild card is - $1,075 of any property plus up to $10,125 of any amount of unused homestead exemption since I have no equity in my home can I use this wild card homestead exemption to keep cash of up to 10,125 in my checking account for an emegency? or does the chapter 7 not allow you to keep any cash or stocks?

[SMinGA]

That is what it sounds like. I personally don't know the Fed exemptions since my state does not allow that option. Some states have specific exemptions for cash/liquid assets - but I don't know of any cases where wild cards have limitations to prevent protecting cash/liquid assets.

One thought comes to mind - and I don't know if this will even be an issue - but I'd say to be careful about the severance check since you'll almost certainly need to use some of that. Depositing it into the joint account might be construed as an insider payment to the joint account holder? And keep records of any large transactions. Receipts, canceled checks, etc.