Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Pennsylvania

Re: Protect your 401K and file bankruptcy

Most retirement accounts are protected. I do not advise reducing your retirement funds to pay unsecured creditors. As long as you can pay your basic monthly expenses such as food, rent and clothing, I recommend you file bankruptcy.

As you may know, there are generally two types of bankruptcies for consumers, Chapter 7 and 13. The former is generally for those who simply require the elimination of unsecured debt such as credit cards. The latter is generally for those who have fallen behind in secured debt such as a mortgage. Chapter 13 allows you to repay any arrears over five years.

A bankruptcy protects just about all consumer assets. There is a $16,000.00 minimum homestead exemption in your principal residence per person. The contents of your home, if any one item is not worth a great deal, are exempt up to at least $8,000.00. There are many other exemptions, as well. Vehicles are exempt to a minimum amount of $2,500.00 and, there is what is commonly known as the "wildcard" exemption. You may use up to one-half of the homestead exemption for any asset you want to protect.

An exemption is a dollar amount assigned to an asset so that, if a Trustee ( the person charged with liquidating assets) were to attempt to sell such an asset, he would have to pay the exemption amount to you. Since the stated exemptions usually cover the value of the assets, most consumer cases are determined to be "no asset". Thus, you simply obtain a discharge of your debt.

You should speak with experienced bankruptcy counsel to discuss all the ramifications.

I trust this has been helpful, but feel free to call or e-mail with further questions.