Florida Exemption Checking account

[cfourkays]

I'm a widowed senior citizen living in Florida who has let his credit card debt get totally too high.
I have no property or anything of any value. I rent and lease my car. I have no joint accounts or have any of my children as co-signers on anything.
The only asset I have is cash in my checking account which has a little over $5000 in it.
How much of that will I be able to keep to continue to pay rent, etc.
My only income is my Social Security.

[justbroke]

Florida has lousy exemptions. But, if you can show that the money in the account only comes from (or is directly traceable to) social security benefits, then it would be exempt. Please use an attorney to file your bankruptcy or seek help because you will certainly need to use the correct exemption statute to properly protect the money.

That doesn't mean that the Trustee wouldn't challenge the source of the funds, especially if money is commingled. This can be difficult to overcome if you're Pro Se. I can't personally tell you which exemption to use to protect social security benefits paid to the recipient. I am saying, however, that you should e able to protect sourced social security benefits that are in a bank account.

I would try to see if you can get in touch with the Pro Bono clinic which should be available at your bankruptcy court. Those attorneys work with debtors as part of their give back (Pro Bono) requirements.

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