Hi, this is Roger Ghai. I wanted to talk today about a very common question that I get from people thinking about filing a bankruptcy, and that is, “Am I going to lose all of my property if I file a bankruptcy case?” The answer clearly is, no. You’re not going to lose all of your properties if you file a bankruptcy case and the case is properly planned.
To give you an example, we have even for people who are filing bankruptcy in the State of Georgia, and this is true of other jurisdictions as well. If you file a bankruptcy case, you don’t lose the shirt off your back. For example, in Georgia, you’re able to keep your vehicle so long as there’s not more than $4500 in equity in the vehicle. You’re also able to keep, for example, if you’re filling alone and not with a spouse, at least $21,500 in equity in your home. If you file a bankruptcy case, you’re also able to keep personal items such as jewelry, up to $200 per item and not more than $3500 total. You’re able to keep, for example, let’s say you were involved or had somebody that died in the family and you have a right to claim a wrongful death claim, you’ve got the right in Georgia to keep proceeds of that wrongful death claims, so long as those funds are necessary for the support of the dependent.
Also in Georgia, you are able to keep– In the United States, generally speaking, let’s say you have a retirement account, and you’re worried about losing your retirement account if you file for a bankruptcy case. The law is this, and there is a US supreme court decision on this, which is that you’re entitled to keep your retirement account if you file a bankruptcy case.
Now, there are some limited exceptions to that, but a limited exception might be a situation where you have three million dollars in a retirement account and you’re trying to wipe $100,000 in general unsecured debt. In that scenario, it maybe contested as to whether you can actually keep all of your retirement account.
You are able to keep jewelry if you file, I think its $500 per piece of jewelry or up to $500 total in Georgia, if you file for a bankruptcy, you’re able to keep up to like $1500 for tools of the trade in Georgia. There are many other exemptions or what we call them in Law. Well, those are the exemptions, so that the legal term, but other protections that you have if you decide that you’re going to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
If you are worried about whether you’re going to loose any of your property by filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, just call me at 770-792-1000 and I’ll be happy to discuss what your rights are.
Bankruptcy FAQ:
Frequently Asked Questions: Table of Contents Who is permitted to file and maintain a chapter 7 case? Who should not file a Chapter 7 case? Is there anything that a person must do
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