What is exempted in chapter 7 in California?

Bankruptcy in California is a bit more complicated than filing in other states. To begin with, there are two sets of exemption rules. Most other states just have one with a handful allowing the use of federal exemptions. For California filers, they must thoroughly read each set of rules and decide which one will work best for them.

What Exemptions Generally Cover

For homeowners, the main issue is being able to keep their residence. The homeowner's exemption allows the equity to be protected from the trustee. That is, the trustee cannot sell the home in order to gain access to this equity. Other things that are covered are household goods. Furniture, the family bible, pots and pans, clothing, etc. All of this is lumped under one umbrella. Cars are also allowed an exemption which can cover equity or the entire value if it's a beater.

Exemptions themselves are a tricky beast. Utilizing them requires the petitioner to be as upfront as possible. If a trustee feels that an item is valued too low, they can perform their own investigation and overturn the claim. It's part of the tenet that there must be complete honesty on the part of the petitioner throughout the entire bankruptcy.

Get Legal Help

It's important to stay away from mistakes in a bankruptcy. What's forgotten now can come to haunt later. Hiring a lawyer for the job will go a long way towards seeing you through a relatively painless filing.