Homestead Exemption Protects Your Home

If you’re considering bankruptcy in Oklahoma it is important that you hire an attorney that’s  familiar with Oklahoma exemptions. When you file bankruptcy a trustee is appointed to examine your property to identify what property can be sold to pay your creditors. However, there are various laws that create exemptions which you can use to protect property from a forced sale. Probably one of the most important exemptions is the one that protects your home. The homestead exemption.

The Homestead Exemption

As a general rule, when you file bankruptcy your personal and real property can be sold by the bankruptcy trustee to pay your creditors. This could include your home. However Federal and State law enacts to protect certain properties in bankruptcy. These laws are called exemptions. Exemptions protect a wide variety of things from wages to your homestead. Oklahoma law protects a person’s homestead from liquidation to pay creditors. Oklahoma law defines a homestead, which is not located in a city, as 160 acres. On the other hand, a homestead within a city or town, owned and occupied as a residence only, consist of only one (1) acre of land. However, under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, the homestead exemption, is limited in various ways. If a debtor acquired their home less than 1,215 days (40 months) before filing bankruptcy they may only exempt up to $125,000, regardless of a state’s exemption allowance.

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Other Bankruptcy Exemptions:

Congress has enacted statutes defining what property they shall protect from forced sale to pay creditors. Congress also allowed individual states to opt out of the federal exemption scheme. Oklahoma has opted out and enacted its own exemptions protecting property. Along with the homestead exemption Oklahoma has some of the best exemptions in the country.

Oklahoma Bankruptcy Legal Help

If you’ve got financial problems and you live in Oklahoma bankruptcy might be the answer to your problems. Regardless of whether you qualify for a chapter 7 or a chapter 13 bankruptcy you’ll be able to either eliminate totally or reorganize most of your debt. If you have question or need general bankruptcy information our attorneys will help. We offer a free and totally confidential consultation about your rights under the law.