Preparation is the key for success when filing bankruptcy in Florida. The best bankruptcy cases go unnoticed as debtors glide through the system without attracting attention to receive a full discharges in record time. Luck is not involved. Planning began months before filing.
The most successful filers know something that you don’t. Small lifestyle changes may alter means test income and expenses before filing. Well-planned strategic changes will have a dramatic effect on the results of the means test. With a few weeks or months to plan, creating $300 improvement on the bankruptcy means test calculation will save $18,000 in wasted Chapter 13 payments. Just as easily, many people avoid Chapter 13 altogether and may file Chapter 7 when understanding the test procedure. Timing is critical.
2010 Bankruptcy Strategies and the Means Test Explained
Fla.Stat. Sec. 222.25 Other individual property exempt from legal process. The following property is exempt from attachment, garnishment, or other legal process: (1) A debtor's interest, not to exceed $1,000 in value, in a single motor vehicle as defined in s. 320.01. (2) A debtor's interest in any professionally prescribed health aids for the debtor or a dependent of the debtor. (3) A debtor's interest in a refund or a credit received or to be received, or the traceable deposits in a financial institution of a debtor's interest in a refund or credit, pursuant to s. 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. This exemption does not apply to a debt owed for child support or spousal support.
According to 11 U.S.C. 522(l) The debtor shall file a list of property that the debtor claims as exempt under subsection (b) of this section. If the debtor does not file such a list, a dependent of the debtor may file such a list, or may claim property as exempt from property of the estate on behalf of the debtor. Unless a party in interest objects, the property claimed as exempt on such list is exempt. The trustee, creditors, an interested party, or the court upon it's own motion, may file an objection to exemptions designated within a debtor's schedule. Denial requires notice to debtors and hearing.
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