Bank garnishment acct, tax refund, homestead questions

[newlife1]

My bank accts have been frozen due to a judgment and we will have hearing soon. I want to apply Ch 7 before it. Would the stay automatically allow me to access the money in the bank or do I need to write it first in schedule C as a wildcard exemption? I am concerned because I need the wildcard for my tax refund. Also I am scheduled to receive my tax refund soon. Does it need a homestead deed? I submitted a homestead deed for a real estate, should I submit another for the tax refund? When shoud I submit this deed - soon or after the creditors meeting? How should I spend refund prior to filing in case I get lucky and IRS send it to me soon? How do I protect it from Ch 7? Pls help. I am confused already with all the things I have researched so far. I have no money to pay atty. My thanks to all!

[LadyInTheRed]

A homestead deed is for the homestead exemption. As I said in your other thread, exemptions for your bankruptcy are claimed when you file your bankruptcy petition, or when you file the schedules if you file an emergency petition without the schedules.

There may be exemptions to protect your bank account from collection before filing BK, and I suspect you would claim those at the hearing, if not in an exemption claim filed before the hearing. I know that in California, when you receive notice that an account is frozen, it includes instructions on how to claim any exemptions.

Whether you can unfreeze the account after filing BK depends on whether you file BK soon enough to prevent it from being turned over to the creditor. If you file BK and the creditor has not yet received the funds, I think the creditor has to release the account. It also may be sufficient to give your bank a copy of your BK notice.

When you get your tax refund, cash it or open a new account to deposit the check. If you get it soon enough, I suggest you spend it to hire a bankruptcy attorney. Even if you eventually file pro-se, I suggest you consult with a couple of BK attorneys immediately. Most BK attorneys give free consultations and that is a good way to get some answers to your specific questions.

I found this info on garnishments in Virginia, including an exemption claim form: http://www.valegalaid.org/issues/deb...ts/garnishment After reading that, it sounds like you need to either exempt the account under state law or file BK before the "return date" I suggest you use the link on that site under "am I eligible" to see if you can get help from legal aid.

[newlife1]

Thanks! The hearing is in 10 days so I need to request an exemptions hearing prior to that. My concern is the amt they garnished was my direct-deposited wage in acct no.1. They debited half of it and froze the other half. In 3 other small accts they got full amts and zeroed them. My concern is will the judge award my money to them in the meeting I will request or will we still hold the originally scheduled meeting where the bank will report what money they sequestered? My intent is to make them release my funds first then I will apply for Chapter 7. Reason is the cash involved is almost 4k and it will use up my wildcard exemption.

[LadyInTheRed]

I've done a little checking on VA exemptions. If by "wildcard" you mean the homestead exemption that you will use for personal property because you have no real estate to exempt, then according to what I have read, that is a lifetime exemption. If you use $4,000 to protect the cash in the frozen accounts, then you will have only $1,000 left to use in BK. http://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/t.../section34-21/ If I understand the law correctly (I only know what I've been able to find in a few minutes on the internet), then there is no point in dealing with the garnishment before filing BK, if you are definitely going to file BK anyway.

You really need to talk to a VA attorney right away to figure out the best way to proceed.

ETA: You may need to record a homestead exemption to use it on personal property. It's a little unclear to me whether it is required or just an option.

[newlife1]

I recorded 2 homesteads (real estate and property) because not sure about it. The frozen/debited money is wages directly deposited by payroll, and an amount from this acct transferred to another acct I use for online payments. the paper trail is clear. the only reason why it is a big amount is because it is for mortgage payment but unfortunately they took it. since tehse are wages i will claim 75% exemption, and the remaining 25% will be deducted from the $5,500 wildcard exemption. my understanding is the 75% will not be deducted from the wildcard exemption.