Keeping Household Furnishings

You can have your cake and eat it too in a Chester County bankruptcy.  Well, sort of.  You can keep your personal household furnishings if you have less than $10,775 in total household furnishings and no particular item exceeds $525.  Look to Section 522(d)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code.  

So, what are household goods?  They include clothing, furniture, appliances, 1 radio, 1 television, 1 VCR (do they even exist anymore?), linens, china, crockery (what I also call a group of lawyers), and kitchenware.  It also includes medical equipment and supplies, furniture for minor children, personal effects including toys and hobby equipment and one computer.  

Other Important Issues in Household Furnishings

It does not include works of art, antiques exceeding $550, and jewelry exceeding $550.  As you can guess and the court in In re Barnes from the Maryland Bankruptcy Court of 1990 stated, it is a concept that furnishing relate to items routinely used within the household such as furniture or decorate items.  Generally, the items have to be for personal, family, or household use.  Also, some courts have taken a view that the exemption is in place to allow you to get a fresh start.  Thus, household furnishings are necessary.  If you are confronted by a U.S. Trustee over the value of the property, you will have to provide a subjective and objective value through your Chester County bankruptcy lawyer.  This includes a possible appraisal (sometimes Ebay will do) and the purpose for the item.  

Remember -- even if your household furnishings exceed the exemption, you can get the rest covered (possibly) through the wildcard exemption in bankruptcy.