Tag Archives: Exemptions

Homestead Exemption: Double Exemption Available Where Debtor Does Not Have Sole Ownership Of Residence

In In re Antman, 2024 WL 4786241, Ch. 13 Case No. 23-60317-ejc (Bankr. S.D. Ga. Nov. 14, 2024), the debtor’s father died in 1996 and in his will left his house to debtor and her three siblings in equal shares. Debtor and her husband had lived in the house since 1999. Debtor filed a Chapter… Continue Reading

Can Non-Citizens, “Undocumented Workers,” and “Illegal Aliens” File For Bankruptcy In The United States?

By Scott Riddle Posted in Miscellaneous Cases

Quite obviously, both immigration and the status of “undocumented” or “illegal” aliens currently in the United States is a hot topic now, and surely will be for a long time. One issue that shows up in Bankruptcy Courts, albeit rarely, is whether non-citizens, whatever their official status, have access to Bankruptcy Courts in the United… Continue Reading

Georgia Supreme Court And Eleventh Circuit Agree: Health Savings Accounts NOT Exempt In Georgia.

By Scott Riddle Posted in Eleventh Circuit Cases, Georgia State Cases, Middle District Cases

Health Savings Accounts were adopted by federal law in 2003, and allowed in Georgia in 2008. They have been a tremendous benefit to many families since that time. A simple explanation of a Health Savings Account (“HSA”), from Judge Wiki, is: [An HSA] is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United… Continue Reading

Debtors Cannot Claim Homestead Exemption In Carve-out Funds Recovered By Trustee.

By Scott Riddle Posted in Northern District Cases

In a July 2015 case the Chapter 7 Trustee sold a house that was underwater with three liens, and received a carve-out from the lender that held the second and third liens. The Debtors did not object to the sale, but to the Trustee’s Final Report because it did not allow for payment of their… Continue Reading

Health Savings Account Not Exempt, Says Middle District Judge Walker

By Scott Riddle Posted in Middle District Cases

In In re Mooney, Ch. 7 Case No. 13-10835, 503 B.R. 916, 2014 Bankr. LEXIS 29 (Bankr. M.D. Ga. January 3, 2014), the issue before the Court was whether a health savings account (“HSA”) is exempt. Judge Walker held that an HSA is not exempt under Georgia state exemptions, even though Georgia has enacted legislation… Continue Reading

Single Premium Annuity Exempt In Bankruptcy, Says Georgia Supreme Court.

By Scott Riddle Posted in Eleventh Circuit Cases, Georgia State Cases, Northern District Cases

The Georgia Supreme Court recently answered certified questions from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals regarding whether a single premium annuity was exempt in a Chapter 7 case, where the annuity was purchased a year before filing with $220,000 in inherited funds. A debtor’s transfer of $220,000 a year before filing Chapter 7 is certainly… Continue Reading

Is Section 522(p) of the Code – The Exemption Cap For Debtors Who Have Recently Made Interstate Moves – Unconstitutional?

By Posted in News and Comments

Professor John Pottow of the University of Michigan Law School thinks so in his latest Credit Slips post. The Code section in question is Section 522(p), which provides as follows – (p)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection and sections 544 and 548, as a result of electing under subsection (b)(3)(A) to exempt… Continue Reading