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Claiming homestead in different state?

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    Claiming homestead in different state?

    I've already talked to my attorney about this, but I wanted to see if anybody here has some thoughts before I get a second legal opinion.

    I'm a WA resident, getting prepared to file ch7, and attempting to keep the family home I own in AL. There's no mortgage; owned free and clear. Current market value is about $59k. I bought it from my folks about 10 years ago when I moved out to join the military. They still live there, though I pay the taxes and everything's in my name. There is a current homestead exemption (on file with the county in AL) already applied to the property (to help lower the tax bill). I own no other real property.

    My number one priority (aside from discharging my debt) is keeping the house. My parents are older, in poor health, and don't have much of anything else. Further, I do plan on moving back to live there in the next couple of years to help them out. My attorney tells me that since I do plan to move there in the future, the homestead filing is current where the house is, and I'm a WA resident, I can use WA's exemption amounts to keep the home in AL. (For reference, WA's exemption is $125k, and AL's is $5k.)

    Personally, I can imagine a trustee eating this for breakfast, but maybe I'm just a pessimist. I think my intentions are good in trying to help my folks out, but that doesn't mean that what I want to do falls within the rules of how the process works.

    My attorney says he's dealt with cases like this before and assures me I can keep the property. I'm just not totally convinced. I'm open to doing a ch13 instead to protect the house, but my attorney doesn't seem to think that's necessary. I mean, a ch7 would be best financially, but I'll take what I can get if it's the right thing to do.

    Thoughts? Anybody else been in a similar situation?

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