If the value of claimed exemption is less than the current value of property without deducting exemption does this mean the difference is not exempted and they can make me pay the difference?
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Typically if an item you are exempting exceeds the exemption allowance, you need to apply some other exemption to cover the difference, such as a wildcard if available.
If you don't have any way to cover it then the trustee has a few options. They can seize the asset and pay you the exemption amount, they can propose a settlement amount for you to pay to keep it, or they can decide that it's not worth the trouble to seize and abandon the property.
In my case I have a small herd of cattle that I have exempted for $525 per cow. Their value is anywhere from $200 - $2000 per cow more, depending on pedigree, sex, etc. So if the trustee decides to seize my cows, he'll have to give me the exemption value of $525 per cow and then try to sell them himself. If he wants to get the value above the exemptions he can propose a settlement amount for us to pay to keep them. At this point we're willing to have him seize them (for a number of reasons,) so we would refuse any offer of payments to keep them. We'll force him to either seize or abandon them.
Our 341 is on Dec 2, so we should know before the end of the year.Case Closed > 2/08/2010
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