Worried About Losing Your Assets During A Bankruptcy

small house model surrounded by coins

Quite often people who are considering bankruptcy are worried that they will lose everything if they file. The answer is “no” you will not lose all of your belongings if you file a bankruptcy. Whether you file a Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy you are still allowed to keep most to all of your regular household items. There is no problem with keeping your typical household items such as:

  • television
  • furniture
  • appliances
  • typical tools
  • computer

The exception to this is when you have a loan on these household items. Depending on whether you file a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 will determine if you continue making payments after the bankruptcy is filed (Chapter 7) or if the payments are calculated into your bankruptcy plan payment (Chapter 13).

Chapter 13

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy protects nearly all of your assets. The exceptions are items that are considered “luxury” items such as: boats, ATVs, campers, elaborate jewelry, etc. If you are making payments on any of these types of items then it might be an issue in a Chapter 13 case (however, there are exception). If you own the property without a loan on it, then you will be allowed to keep it in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case.

Chapter 7

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy only allows you to have a certain amount of equity in major assets such as house, a vehicle, boat etc. If you have little to no equity in these assets, you have the option of continuing to make the loan payments after your Chapter 7 bankruptcy is filed. If you exceed the allowed equity amount for these items, you would be required to turn over the property to the Chapter 7 Trustee. For example, each debtor is allowed to have $3,000 equity in a vehicle. This means that if you own your vehicle and it’s worth more than $3,000 then the Chapter 7 Trustee might require the vehicle to be turned over. If you have a loan on the vehicle but still have $3,000 equity then it would be the same situation. For example, if you owe $12,000 on your vehicle loan but it is worth $18,000. Then there would be more than $3,000 equity. Keep in mind that if you are married and have two vehicles, you are each allowed $3,000 equity for a vehicle.

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If you have more questions about how a bankruptcy can help you, give us a call at 801-265-1836. We are here to help.

Robert A. Eder, Jr. is an attorney and a debt relief agency and helps people file for relief under the bankruptcy code.

Contact Attorney Robert A. Eder Jr.

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