So, you have filed your bankruptcy petition with your Chester County bankruptcy lawyer. You now, however, must change your exemptions on Schedule D.
You have a right to amend, as a matter of course, at any time before the case is close. This is controlled by the case of Matter of Yonikus from the 7th Circuit of 1993. The ability to amend is construed quite liberally and courts have little discretion to deny a motion to amend a claim of exemption. The only time they may is in a matter of fraud (which you better not have done!).
But, if you try to amend and the property has been concealed or the property has been amended in bad faith or is prejudicial to creditors, you are in a pickle. There is a host of cases, from all across the country, that show that you can't amend (especially if it hurts the creditors) if you are acting dishonestly or in fraud. For example, In re Grogan in Utah in 2003, stated that debtors who intentionally concealed a personal injury cause of action and its proceeds could not be allowed to amend their schedules to claim an exemption in the proceeds. You have to understand that prejudice may be found where a trustee has commenced proceedings to sell property or commenced distribution of assets of the bankruptcy estate.
The debtor must provide notice of any exemption changes. This in turn will apply to creditors. Creditors will then be given 30 days to object to the amended exemption. If the debtor fails to send notice of an amended exemption, the 30-day notice begins to run upon the creditor's receipt of actual notice. If, however, the creditor is never notified, the exemption may be lost.