Exemptions Mean You Won’t Lose Everything
After helping more than 15,000 Miami-Dade County clients handle their Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies, one of the most frequent worries people have is that they will lose everything. At Kingcade Garcia McMaken, our attorney understands these concerns, and helps people every day understand that there are numerous key exemptions in Florida bankruptcy laws that allow you to protect key property and assets during the bankruptcy process.
The Exemptions Available Under Florida Bankruptcy Laws
Bankruptcy is not designed to leave people with nothing from which to rebuild. It is designed to provide meaningful debt relief for people from all walks of life. Rather than being a destructive process that takes everything you own, it is meant to help you preserve a chance at a sound financial future. Every individual’s case will be different, but by working with an experienced lawyer who intimately understands the bankruptcy process you have many opportunities to protect your most important pieces of property.
Trust in a bankruptcy law firm that has been serving clients since 1996. You can reach us online today for a free initial consultation.
What Can I Protect In The Bankruptcy Process?
We know from experience that the biggest question people often have about bankruptcy is: what can I keep?
The answer varies from person to person. For some people, those filing under Chapter 7 liquidation or Chapter 13 reorganization, the answer in many cases is that you can keep almost everything. Depending on your case, your exemptions may include:
- Homes
- Cars
- Retirement accounts
- Pensions
- Wages
- Personal property
- Savings
- Veterans or workers’ compensation benefits
When you rely on our office for your case, you get a legal partner who will guide you every step of the way through your bankruptcy. From the initial filing to rebuilding your credit after bankruptcy, we help you address all the issues that matter most to you. We help you identify the most important things in your life to protect and work to find exemptions that will help you reach those goals.
The Narrow Car Exemption In Florida
While your car can be exempt from seizure and repossession by creditors, Florida laws do not provide for a large amount of equity allowance in the car or automobile. Under Florida bankruptcy statutes, an individual can only be exempt up to $1,000 in equity (for the automobile).
What this means is that if you have more than $1,000 in equity in your automobile (for example the car is worth $15,000 and you owe $5,000 that would be $10,000 in equity), you would only be protected under Florida exemption laws up to $1,000. This is low protection compared to other states, so it is important to understand how this impacts your specific case by speaking to one of our experienced lawyers.
Unlimited Retirement Plan Exemptions
On the flip side, exemptions under Florida statute for retirement plans is amply protected. This is largely due to the public policy of protecting people’s hard-earned retirement money. You should not have to be afraid of creditors or mortgage companies going after retirement plans such as IRAs, Roth IRAs, pensions, 401(k)s and other profit-sharing plans. Under bankruptcy laws in Florida, creditors are not allowed to touch these types of retirement accounts. This also applies to inherited retirement accounts and beneficiaries.
Talk To A Proven Professional
It costs nothing to take advantage of our free consultation and discuss your situation with a proven bankruptcy lawyer. Contact our professionals at Kingcade Garcia McMaken online or by phone at 305-285-9100.