Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

Re: Schedule b questions...

There are two different sets of exemptions one can use for filing bankruptcy in California, and they cannot be mixed-and-matched. One is under Code of Civil Procedure section 703.140, and the other under 704. If a person does not need to take a homestead exemption because he/she does not own a home, usually the person uses section 703.140.

Under 703.140, cash on hand is usually claimed under the wild card exemption as are checking/savings accounts. Automobiles have a limited equity exemption of $2,775 and the remainder can be claimed under the wild-card and/or tools of the trade exemptions if necessary for work. It has nothing to do with whether the debtor intends to keep the debtor's car. It is important for a debtor to make his/her intentions clear on the statement of intentions that the debtor will either reaffirm or keep current on payments. If a debtor is behind on payments, if there's no reaffirmation, things could get dicey with the secured creditor who also is listed on schedule D. A secured creditor might bring a motion for relief from stay to repossess the car.

No one has ever objected to my listing a computer as household goods within the past couple of years. If valued at over $450, the difference often is applied to the wild card and/or tools of the trade exemptions if used for business.

These are some of the reasons people hire lawyers -- i.e. to do things right so that they don't have to amend the petition and return a second time for the meeting of creditors.

Also, it is important for the debtor to check his/her credit reports to make sure there's not some debt that the debtor either forgot or doesn't know about (i.e. identity theft), and list it all. Good luck!