Just because you own something that’s not exempt doesn’t always mean that the Chapter 7 trustee will take it. The trustee could abandon it.
Reasons a Chapter 7 Trustee May Not Take Your Non-Exempt Property
Just because you own something that isn’t exempt does not necessarily mean that your Chapter 7 trustee will liquidate it. Maybe not.
Your No-Asset Chapter 7 Case
Most individual consumer Chapter 7 cases are “no asset” ones. This means that the Chapter 7 trustee doesn’t liquidate any debtor assets.
Treatment of Proceeds, Rents, and Profits under Chapter 7
Assets acquired after filing under Chapter 7, such as wages, can’s be reached by the trustee. But watch out for proceeds, rents and profits.
Divorce Property Division Right After Filing Bankruptcy
The 180-day rule also applies to marital property division, whether by agreement or court decree.
Treatment of Death Benefits in Chapter 7
The 180-day rule applicable to life insurance proceeds also applies to death benefits overall. Death benefits may also often be exempt.
Protecting Life Insurance Proceeds
The 180-day rule applies to life insurance proceeds in a Chapter 7 case. But life insurance proceeds are often exempt, or protected.
The Special Rule about an Inheritance
If you are expecting an inheritance, or even if you are not, the special rules about them are worth your attention to prevent bad surprises.
Keeping Property in a Spendthrift Trust
If you are the beneficiary in a spendthrift trust, most likely a bankruptcy trustee can’t touch whatever property is in that trust.
Your Property of the Bankruptcy Estate Excludes a Power of Attorney
If you have a power of attorney over someone’s assets, or any similar power, those assets are not affected by your bankruptcy case.
What’s Property of the Estate under Chapter 7?
To find out if you can keep everything you own in a Chapter 7 case, the first step is finding out what’s in your bankruptcy estate.
Who’s the United States Trustee?
You hear in bankruptcy about the “trustee,” and maybe about the “U.S. Trustee.” They’re clearly easy to confuse. Who’s the U.S. Trustee?
5 More Essentials about Protecting Your Property with Exemptions
There’s a lot more to using property exemptions than just matching them to your assets. There are benefits worth taking advantage of.
The 5 Essentials about Protecting Your Property with Exemptions
Most of the time you get to keep everything you own when you file bankruptcy. It’s all covered by property exemptions. But not always.
Use the Property Exemptions You Qualify For
Usually you use the property exemptions available for the residents of your state. But not if you haven’t lived there long enough.