Bankruptcy In California

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Decision making on bankruptcy filing is never an easy one, now be it in any state you belong to. What you need to be aware in such a situation is the bankruptcy rules and procedures governing your state. Here we discuss in brief, bankruptcy in California.

Before filing for bankruptcy in California you need to be aware of the basic bankruptcy info pertaining to how the process works. Generally bankruptcies are controlled by the Federal law, but nevertheless State laws also play a vital role.

For filing bankruptcy in California you require the best legal advice possible, and choosing on a wrong attorney could cost you your assets. This decision is too important to trust on just advertisements or some slick television commercials. The state law has some twists in bankruptcies issues for Californians, though bankruptcy is controlled by the Federal Law.

Exemptions: California State offers debtors the option to choose among the state law exemptions found in Code of Civil Procedure 704 and the set of bankruptcy only exemptions found in CCP 703.140. These reflect the bankruptcy code exemptions in the federal ...
... law, when California law was approved. It has been seen that generally homeowners go for the state law exemptions having a liberal home stead exemption for equity in cases of primary residence, whereas renters who have no equity in their home prefer the CCP703 exemption.

Community Property: California is a community property state wherein any property acquired by a married couple is a community property belonging to both the spouses, unless they agree otherwise. This type of property inflicts a legal liability for the debts incurred by either spouse during marriage but again all community property of the marriage attained after the bankruptcy, is protected by the discharge, even if only one spouse filed.

This clearing indicates that the after-acquired community property is not liable for the debts of the non-filing partner that subsisted when bankruptcy was filed. The non-filing spouse's separate property if present could be liable, however.

California statutes have a list of exempt property & limits, wherein you can choose one among the two exemption schemes present. Your attorney would be the best person to choose the appropriate one for you. Few exemption bankruptcy info is mentioned to help you out.

Some vital exemptions under the 1st scheme:
• Homestead exemption: Your home, up to $75,000 or $150,000 of its value, depending on your marital status, age and other factors
• Appliances, furnishing, clothing and food required
• Tools of your trade, up to $7,175 in value
• 1 motor vehicle, up to $2,725 of its value
• Jewelry, family heirlooms and art up to a total of $7,175 in value
• Alimony
• Retirement plan & life insurance proceeds
• Unemployment, disability, veterans', workers' compensation and social security benefits
Some vital exemptions under the 2nd scheme:
• Homestead exemption: Real or personal property used as your home, up to $22,075.
• One motor vehicle, up to $3,525 of its value
• Appliances, household furnishings, clothing, books and musical instruments. No item may be worth more than $550
• Jewelry, up to $1,425 in value
• Unemployment, disability, veterans', workers' compensation and social security benefits
• Alimony
• Retirement plan and life insurance proceeds
• Tools of your trade, up to $2,200 in value

Thus keep yourself updated with the rules and procedures before you think of filing for bankruptcy, and once files, never get dis-heartened, think and strategize out ways to get over it.

Bankruptcy in California has its exemptions and rules specific to its state. Keep yourself well updated to avoid taking a wrong step. To know more on bankruptcy in California click the link given above.