Are You Eligible to Use Florida’s Homestead Exemption in Your Bankruptcy Case?
If you are a homeowner in South Florida who is currently considering a personal bankruptcy filing — and a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in particular — it is critical to learn more about Florida’s homestead exemption. Whether you are going to be filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, exemptions will be relevant to your case. In a Chapter 7 filing, they will allow you to protect assets from liquidation, meaning that you can keep any exempt property. In a Chapter 13 filing, they can play a role in determining the total amount you must repay to creditors over the course of your bankruptcy case. For homeowners, Florida’s homestead exemption is likely to be very important. The homestead exemption available under Florida law allows a homeowner to exempt all equity in their home — there is no limit.
Are you eligible to use this extremely valuable exemption? Consider the following information from our South Florida bankruptcy attorneys.
Eligibility Requirements for the Florida Homestead Exemption
In order to be eligible to use Florida’s unlimited homestead exemption — to exempt all of the equity in your home — you must meet property requirements and ownership requirements.
As for the property requirement, the property must be no bigger than half of an acre if it is located in a municipality or no bigger than 160 acres if it is not located in a municipality.
For the ownership requirement, you must have owned the property for at least 1,215 days prior to filing for bankruptcy in Florida.
Can I Exempt Any Equity in My Home If I Do Not Qualify?
What will happen if you are not eligible for the homestead exemption? For example, what if your property is too large? Or, what if you have not owned the home for a long enough period of time, even if you purchased it outright with cash?
If you do not qualify for Florida’s homestead exemption, you will likely still be eligible to exempt equity in your home. However, you will be limited to the current federal cap on exempting home equity, which is $214,000.
The best way to determine your eligibility for using Florida’s homestead exemption, and applying other important exemptions to your case, is to speak with a lawyer who can assist you.
Contact Our West Palm Beach Bankruptcy Lawyers for Help Applying Florida’s Homestead Exemption to Your Bankruptcy Case
If you currently own your home outright or have significant equity in your home, you should know that filing for bankruptcy will not impact your home ownership as long as you are eligible to apply Florida’s generous homestead exemption. As we discussed above, there are specific requirements to take advantage of Florida’s homestead exemption in a personal bankruptcy case, and it is important to discuss your eligibility with one of the experienced West Palm Beach bankruptcy attorneys at Kelley Kaplan Delaney & Eller, PLLC, PLLC. Contact us today to learn more about exemptions that will be valuable in your bankruptcy case and to find out more about how the homestead exemption.
Source:
leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0200-0299/0222/0222ContentsIndex.html
