tax refund question georgia

[nichole04]

I am expecting a large tax refund and my lawyer says he can protect $10,000of it since we won't be using any of our homestead exemption. Our house is extremely underwater. I thought I could only protect $5000. My husband and I are filing bk jointly. Please help!

[nichole04]

anyone?

Since we are filing jointly can we exempt $10,000 in cash or just $5000?

[LSUTiger32]

Since we are filing jointly can we exempt $10,000 in cash or just $5000?

Looks like that is the case. In Georgia it seems as though you can keep $10,000 in equity in a home for each person filing if married and filing jointly. Also looks as though in GA you can shift unused home equity protections to other things:

The exemption law operates by identifying certain types of property that cannot be seized by the trustee or creditors in a bankruptcy. For example, the first $10,000 of equity in real estate is exempt. For a married couple, filing jointly, the real estate exemption is doubled to $20,000.

You can apply any unused portion of your real estate exemption to gain additional exemptions. For example, if you have a car worth $15,000 and you owe $7,000. You would have $8,000 of equity. Use the $3,500 exemption and you still have $4,500 of non-exempt equity. You can use $4,500 of your real estate exemption to completely shelter your car. You can read more about maximizing your Georgia bankruptcy exemptions by clicking on the link.

Check out this site where I got this from, looks pretty knowledgeable:

http://www.atlanta-bankruptcy-attorn...xemptions.html

[nichole04]

Thanks so much for your help LSUTiger!

[LSUTiger32]

Not a problem at all nichole.....good luck!!!

[Pasofino]

Tax refund and exemption

Looks like that is the case. In Georgia it seems as though you can keep $10,000 in equity in a home for each person filing if married and filing jointly. Also looks as though in GA you can shift unused home equity protections to other things:

The exemption law operates by identifying certain types of property that cannot be seized by the trustee or creditors in a bankruptcy. For example, the first $10,000 of equity in real estate is exempt. For a married couple, filing jointly, the real estate exemption is doubled to $20,000.

You can apply any unused portion of your real estate exemption to gain additional exemptions. For example, if you have a car worth $15,000 and you owe $7,000. You would have $8,000 of equity. Use the $3,500 exemption and you still have $4,500 of non-exempt equity. You can use $4,500 of your real estate exemption to completely shelter your car. You can read more about maximizing your Georgia bankruptcy exemptions by clicking on the link.

Check out this site where I got this from, looks pretty knowledgeable:

http://www.atlanta-bankruptcy-attorn...xemptions.html

Can you please help me with AZ and tax refund as well?
Thank you