Questions on exemptions (Federal)...

[reallynervous]

I have a few question about exemptions. We are in PA but will likely be using the Federal exemptions...


1. We have two cars (both paid in full). We will be married filing jointly. The value of one of them may end up being a few hundred over the exemption amount. The other one is well under it. Does each stand alone in it's value or is the amount allowed 2 x the car exemption? I hope that makes sense.

If they each must stand alone, would they ask you to pay the difference between the exemption limit and the value or you would have to pay the full value to the trustee to keep the car?

We don't have any equity in our home, so we should be able to use the homestead amounts for those without equity. Can you use that for a car that is over the exemption amount? If so, again do you count the full amount for the car under that or the difference that it is over the car exemption limit?


2. I have seen that you are only allowed 1 tv, 1 radio, etc. Are you allowed more than that under the unused homestead exemption? My kids have small TVs in their rooms for their video games.


3. I have a diamond wedding band that is very precious to me as it was my grandmother's wedding ring. Is that an item I can cover with the unused homestead exemption? I haven't had it appraised but I suspect it may be over the dollar amount listed as allowed for jewelry.

4. For the $925 wildcard amount, can that be for multiple items added together not to exceed that amount or just 1 item?


Thanks in advance for any clarification you can offer!

[SinkingFast]

We filed using State Exemptions. But what our attny did was list all the vehicles and their values, add up the values, and got a cumulative $$$ amount. Our Vehicle Exemption was $3K each that we could double. So we had $6K for vehicles. No specific number. You'll have to ask your attny how he/she will handle things. Local Rules may be completely different from that.

The Federal 1 TV, 1 Radio, etc, is supposed to be a hard and fast rule when using Federal Exemptions. When you go with Federal Exemptions you're supposed to inventory your whole house. But there again, ask attnys as you Consult around. Even tho it's one Federal Law, the Codes are applied slightly differently in each Court and/or District.

On the wedding ring,.......... Don't get an appraisal. An appraised value will be for insurance replacement purposes. The pricing you want is what you'd get if you sold the ring.

Go to local jewelry stores and pawn shops. Show them the ring. Tell them you need to sell it. You need the money. Ask what they are willing to pay for it. Use that value for the ring. Do the same thing with any other better quality jewelry you may have.

[reallynervous]

Thank you....

Thank you for your reply.

Hopefully our cars can be combined. We will ask our attorney once we get on board with one. Actually, my husband looked at what I had entered for the car on the Kelly Blue Book site and said I had included premium wheels which we don't have (I know nothing about wheels). That change brought us a little below the exemption limit as we were only less than $100 over it.

Thanks too for the advise on the ring. We actually did take all my other jewelry in to a jeweler a few months ago to try to get some money to pay towards our bills. That was eye-opening. The amount they would pay was really small compared to the purchase price my dh had paid. We will take the wedding band in and see what they say. Do we need to have something in writing?


Anyone else who might have used Federal exemptions and had similar issues on property?

Thanks again!

[SinkingFast]

For your car values,........... Try using Edmunds.com. That's the website our attny used. Edmunds takes into acct factors that KBB does not. Some colors of cars sell for more than other colors. Edmunds asks more detailed condition questions as well.

Once our attny got values, he averaged the wholesale, private party, and retail prices to establish values.

There have been posters in the past that have used Federal Exemptions. I don't know if we have anyone active right now that's going that route. You'll just have to wait to see what responses you get.

[reallynervous]

Thanks for recommending Edmunds.com. The value that came up there was much less than those from KBB - in fact even the highest level (retail value) was less than our exemption amount. Hopefully the attorney we choose will go by this amount. I am feeling a little better about this issue now!

Thanks again!