need info to keep my car

my husband and me are filing chapter 7 in tn .we are about $15,000 in debt mostly cc and hospital bills. we owe about 1,500 on 1 car and we dont owe on the other. i talked with several people and get different answers each time. my car is worth about 6000 someone said we could keep it using a double exemption. i also heard each licensed driver in the home is allowed one car apiece. if anyone knows please reply.

Exemptions depend on your State. You'll have to post the State for help about the actual $$ amounts.

If both you and your husband are filing, most States will allow you to double the exemption. Depends on the wording of the Statutes. For example, our state says $3000 for vehicles. Joint filing gives us $6000 total. Some States specify ONE vehicle.

You saying/licensed driver sounds like Texas??!! Is that right??

we live in tennessee. i've been looking for a place like this to get some questions answered. theres really nothing else they can take.

http://www.tennesseebankruptcylaw.com/exemptions.html

I looked at several sites. They all pretty much say the same thing. I didn't find an exemption specific to vehicles. Just a personal property "WildCard".

WildCard means you can use it on anything. Furniture, car, cash, bank account monies, etc. Anything you want.

You would get to double the WildCard and other exemptions, but not the Homestead. Homestead is limited to $5000 for an individual or $7500 if filing joint.

When you look at your furniture and such, think in terms of places you could buy the exact same thing. Where do you find an 8 year old sofa for sale?? Use Goodwill, garage sale, and yard sale values.

Check out the newspaper and see what similar cars are actually selling for, private party price. Check out the value of your car at http://www.edmunds.com in addition to going to Kelly Blue Book. You may find lower values for your cars.

Feel free to ask any more questions at anytime. It's good to have you here!