What Can I Keep?
What Property Is Exempt From Liquidation?
In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you do not lose any of your property. Instead, you will have a plan to repay your debts over three to five years.
A Chapter 7 bankruptcy is called a "liquidation" bankruptcy, a term that frightens many people. It implies that someone will come into your home and sell everything you own, down to the last fork and spoon. That's not how bankruptcy works.
You will not be stripped of all your possessions and left out in the street. Many — in some cases all — of your belongings are exempt from liquidation.
At the Law Offices of Serpe, Dizonno & Associates, our bankruptcy attorneys will analyze your assets and determine which of them you can keep and which may need to be sold to repay a portion of your debt.
In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you will generally be able to keep:
- Household goods
- Furniture
- Clothing (not furs)
- Appliances
- Musical instruments
- Books
- Work tools
- Jewelry worth up to about $1,000
- Real estate up to $7,500
- Vehicles, up to $1,200
- $2,000 to apply toward any personal property
What About My Home and Car?
What you can keep differs in every case. Whether you can keep your home or your car depends on how much equity you have in it, that is, how much you have paid off versus the amount you still owe.
Call for a Free Consultation
To speak to a lawyer and learn what you could keep after a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, please contact the Law Offices of Serpe, Dizonno & Associates.
From offices in Itasca and Maywood, we represent clients in Cook County and DuPage County, Illinois.
We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.
