Provided that a bankruptcy petitioner is able to meet certain qualifying tests in order to file for bankruptcy protection under certain chapters of the Bankruptcy Code, a bankruptcy petitioner may take advantage of certain exemptions provided by each particular state in order to protect and keep certain assets when he/she files for bankruptcy. These certain assets are typically referenced as “exempt assets” and are afforded protection under certain exemption categories in accordance with the particular state statute.

Subject to our disclaimer that the exemption amounts (as listed below) may be updated from time to time and therefore should be confirmed for accuracy, we set forth below the various state exemptions for the States of California, Florida and Nevada that may be of use during a bankruptcy filing in those particular states.

For the State of California, federal bankruptcy exemptions are not available. California has two systems, the petition has to select one or the other and cannot mix the use of the exemptions. All law references are to California Code of Civil Procedure unless otherwise noted.  Note that many exemptions do not apply to claims for child support.

Note: California’s exemption amounts are no longer updated in the statutes themselves. California Code of Civil Procedure Section 740.150 deputized the California Judicial Council to update the exemption amounts every three years.   As a result, the amounts listed in this chart may not match the amounts that appear in the cited statutes, and all amounts should be confirmed.

California—SYSTEM 1 (the 704 exemptions):

California—System 2 (the 703 exemptions):

Note: Married couples may not double any exemptions. (In re Talmadge, 832 F.2d 1120 (9th Cir. 1987); In re Baldwin, 70 B.R. 612 (9th Cir. B.A.P. 1987).)

For the State of Florida, federal bankruptcy exemptions are not available.  All law references are to Florida Statutes Annotated unless otherwise noted.

For the State of Nevada, federal bankruptcy exemptions are not available. All law references are to Nevada Revised Statutes Annotated unless otherwise noted.

Exemptions for Retirement Accounts:   Under the current bankruptcy law, almost all types of tax-exempt retirement accounts are exempt in bankruptcy, whether state or federal exemptions are applied.  Such accounts include 401(k)s, 403(b)s, profit-sharing and money purchase plans, IRAs (including Roth, SEP and Simple IRAs) and defined benefit plans.  Amount of exemption for these accounts are virtually unlimited, except for IRA accounts where the limitation may be set at $1,095,000.  The applicable exemption for these types of accounts, if the bankruptcy petitioner is using state exemptions, is 11 U.S.C §522(b)(3)(C).

Disclaimer:  Please note that the bankruptcy exemption charts, referenced herein above, is intended to provide general information only; nothing herein may be relied upon as a legal opinion by Blue Capital Law Firm, P.C.  Further, you should be aware that there may be certain exceptions to state exemption laws that may otherwise be applicable to your particular case.  Further, the exemption amounts listed in the charts above may be updated and changed over time, and therefore all such amounts should be confirmed for accuracy.