a few questions

When figuring the amount of equity in a home do you subtract the pay off of a 2nd mortgage. Thank you for your help.

take the market value of the home and subtract 1st and 2nd notes and whats left is equity, example you sell your house for $100,000, your first note is $75000 and the second is $15000, you have 10000 equity.

Is this the way the equity is calculated for the purpose of exemptions as it pertains to chapter 7.

It varies from region to region to some degree depending on the housing market. Generally market value is the standard for valueing real estate, but the trustee is generally not able to sell houses at market value. So even if on a market value analysis of your equity, you exceed the exemption, if your in a region where housing sales are fairly stagnant, the trustee may not sell the house.

But you should speak to an attorney in your area...