Latest - 11 U.S.C. § 522 Federal Exemption Amounts ?

[bianci]

Help !

I'm starting to worry, as all I'm finding are conflicting amounts (and dates) on all the U.S. Bankruptcy Code [11 U.S.C. § 522] Federal Exemptions - that I look-up online!

Two sites, the Cornell University Law School - Legal Information Institute (LII), and the 'U.S. Government Printing Office' - show, as of
(3 Jan 2012), Fed. exemption amounts approx. 1/3 less than what several other sites are showing, online, such as Nolo.com & LegalConsumer.com & bankruptcyaction.com - with the Nolo.com 'Wildcard Exemption' page showing the highest wildcard exemptions amounts of:

"$1,225. plus any unused portion of the federal homestead exemption up to $12,250. (if you are married and filing a joint bankruptcy these amounts are doubled). So for a single filer who does not have any home equity, the federal wildcard exemption is $13,475."

So, what are the latest Federal exemption amounts??? Thanks in advance to any & all who reply.

[AngelinaCat]

Bianci, Des or the Michigan attorney who posts infrequently, will be the best people to advise on this issue. However, go to your local State Statues and see what is there. Here is the link to the latest information that I found:

http://www.legalconsumer.com/bankruptcy/bankruptcy-law.php?ST=MI

If you have not yet scheduled free consults with BK attorneys, you need to do so. Schedule at least four or five, and see what they have to say. Understand that they are probably not 'up to speed' on these things either.

[ValleYum]

They just adjusted up in April 1, 2013 (they do every 3 years on April 1st). The Cornell, etc. sites show the amounts as it was originally written - you need to know where to look up the increases every 3 years.

Federal Bankruptcy Exemptions Adjusted For Inflation, April 1, 2013
March 22, 2013 by albin

When Congress passed the 2005 bankruptcy law, it dictated that the limits set in the statute should be adjusted for inflation every three years. Adjustments were made in 2008 2010, and now in 2013. The new amounts to take effect April 1.

Some of the critical affected amounts:

Federal 11 USC 522(b) Exemption amounts
Homestead exemption raised from $21,625 to $22,975
Motor vehicle exemption raised from $3,450 to $3,675
Wild-card exemption raised from $10,825 to $11,500
Tools of trade exemption raised from $11,525 to $12,250
Limit on IRA exemption raised from $1,171,650 to $1,245,475

Debt Limits
Chapter 13 unsecured debt limit raised from $360,475 to $383,175
Chapter 13 secured debt limit raised from $1,081,400 to $1,149,525

State Homestead Exemption Limit for Recent Relocatees
Homestead exemption cap (for people who have recently moved to states with large homestead exemptions) raised from $146,450 to $155,675

http://www.legalconsumer.com/bk/bankruptcy-inflation-adjustments-april-2013/

Here is a link to the Federal Register page which shows all the changes: http://www.legalconsumer.com/bankrup...ruptcyCode.pdf


PS: I think the amount of homestead exemption amount of $12,250 from NOLO is wrong. According to the Federal Register is should be: $11,500 for the unused portion of your homestead exemption.

$11,500 + 'regular' newly adjusted wildcard of $1225 = total Federal wildcard of $12,725 (joint filers may double these amounts) As always, you should chcek with local counsel for the best ideas of BK filings in your area!

Hope this helped you!

[bianci]

Thank you so much, ValleYum ! ;-) Those are the amounts I calculated with, as I thought that Nolo's "unused portion of the federal homestead exemption up to $12,250." - looked suspicious, as well. ;-)
Except that Nolo's Fed. Exemp. webpage (last adjusted in April , 2013; not their wildcard webpage) & LC's other Fed. Exemp webpage - both show 'Tools of Trade' at $2300. So that category has quite the discrepancy; wonder which figure is correct there?

Nevertheless, the (d)(1) Homestead and (d)(5) Fed Wildcard amounts were what I was most concerned with. And your supporting info. has now put my mind at ease, so thanks again so much! ;-)

Btw, I see you're in WA. I was born in Olympia, and am from Washington. Have been in Michigan to take care of elderly parents these last few years, but hope to return to WA some day. Really miss the Northwest like crazy.

[bianci]

Bianci, Des or the Michigan attorney who posts infrequently, will be the best people to advise on this issue. However, go to your local State Statues and see what is there. Here is the link to the latest information that I found:

http://www.legalconsumer.com/bankruptcy/bankruptcy-law.php?ST=MI

If you have not yet scheduled free consults with BK attorneys, you need to do so. Schedule at least four or five, and see what they have to say. Understand that they are probably not 'up to speed' on these things either.

Thanks AngelinaCat ;-)
I'm not filing w/ State exemptions, but rather the (MI state-allowed) Fed exemptions.
I had three "consults with BK attorneys," back in June. They were all too expensive. So I filed my Pro Se Petition the first week of July. Filed my petition-supporting documents on 22 July. Made a few amendments to a few of those documents yesterday, and will be re-filing them today. My 341 Meeting is now 9 days out.

Was just seeing so many varied and contradictory Fed Exemp amount schedules, yesterday though. Even some with "as of: 2013" dates - that had Fed Exemp amounts - that didn't make sense, and were more inline with 2004 Fed Exemp amounts, or earlier.

ValleYum's 'April 1, 2013' amounts were what I was trying to confirm, as both the Nolo & LC sites seemed to show contradictory amounts. Therefore ValleYum's latest Fed Exemp schedule (above) has greatly eased my mind. Thanks again!

[ValleYum]

Thank you so much, ValleYum ! ;-) Those are the amounts I calculated with, as I thought that Nolo's "unused portion of the federal homestead exemption up to $12,250." - looked suspicious, as well. ;-)
Except that Nolo's Fed. Exemp. webpage (last adjusted in April , 2013; not their wildcard webpage) & LC's other Fed. Exemp webpage - both show 'Tools of Trade' at $2300. So that category has quite the discrepancy; wonder which figure is correct there?

Nevertheless, the (d)(1) Homestead and (d)(5) Fed Wildcard amounts were what I was most concerned with. And your supporting info. has now put my mind at ease, so thanks again so much! ;-)

Btw, I see you're in WA. I was born in Olympia, and am from Washington. Have been in Michigan to take care of elderly parents these last few years, but hope to return to WA some day. Really miss the Northwest like crazy.

I am from the SE originally but moved up here almost 15 years ago and love it. We likely will retire down south though to be closer to family.

RE: exemptions: I am glad I was able to help! We filed with the Federal exemption set back in 2010. We were able to protect everything we needed to - I hope you guys can, too!

Keep us posted on how your 341 goes! Have you sent your tax returns, bank statements, etc. to the Trustee or has he asked for them at all?

Take care!!

PS: Federal Register page show Tools of the Trade 522 (d) (6) to be $2300 - so I personally would go with that one, YMMV.

[bianci]

Have you sent your tax returns, bank statements, etc. to the Trustee or has he asked for them at all?

Yes, sent all the Trustee requested stuff last week. Being a Pro Se filer, I'm anticipating that he's probably going to give me a hard time w/ personal property & claimed exemptions, I'm guessing, looking for estate assets he can take. But using the (MI State allowed) Fed. Exemp's....I should be just squeaking under the max. allowed Fed Exemp's by $352.13

That's not much of a cushion... so I'm also hoping I didn't screw-up with how I figured and applied the Fed. Exemptions.

PS: Federal Register page show Tools of the Trade 522 (d) (6) to be $2300 - so I personally would go with that one, YMMV.

Yes, I saw that too, for (d)(6). It looked like the $12,250. - was possibly mis-transcribed over - from the paragraph 7 (d)(7) line.
I did use the $2,300. figure, btw. ;-)

[bianci]

Yes, sent all the Trustee requested stuff last week. Being a Pro Se filer, I'm anticipating that he's probably going to give me a hard time w/ personal property & claimed exemptions, I'm guessing, looking for estate assets he can take. But using the (MI State allowed) Fed. Exemp's....I should be just squeaking under the max. allowed Fed (edit: Wildcard) Exemp's by $352.13

Err, I meant, $352.13 - under the Fed. Wildcard Exemptions. Not the total Fed. Exemp's.