Keeping Property in Bankruptcy

Hello, this is Roger Ghai with the Law Offices of Roger Ghai and I practice bankruptcy law in the Kennesaw, Acworth, Marietta areas, as well as sometimes we take some cases from Atlanta. I wanted to speak to you this morning because a lot of times clients are very concerned about whether they will lose all of their property by filing a bankruptcy.
First of all the law does protect certain amounts of property that a debtor, a person who files bankruptcy, can actually keep and not have to surrender during the bankruptcy process. And so Georgia is like any other state in the union and it has its specific bankruptcy protection. So for example, in Georgia, you can protect up to $5,000 in equity in a vehicle, you can protect up to $21,500 in equity in your home and you can protect… For example, let’s say you’ve been involved in a motor vehicle wreck you can protect up to $10,000 in proceeds, but anything above the $10,000 would go to the bankruptcy trustee, technically. And who would go ahead and then make a dispersant to your various creditors of anything above the $10,000 if you’ve received a settlement from your personal injury case.
There are other things that can be protected in your bankruptcy case, one of which would be, let’s say for example a SEP-IRA, so if you’ve stocked some money away from your employer during an employment history with them and you’ve been saving, you can go ahead that is legally protected. IRA’s are protected. So there’s a multitude of assets that can be protected. There are limitations on some of those assets and so that really has to be analyzed as to whether you’re going to be able to everything or maybe whether you’re not going to keep a significant portion. And then you would have to reconsider whether it’s even worth it for you to file a bankruptcy depending on a variety of circumstances.
If you have questions about what property you can or can not keep by filing a bankruptcy you can call my office at 770-791-1000.