Using State Exemptions
It is very important to be open and honest with your attorney. When an attorney asks a Debtor a question, it is because the information is important. I have a Debtor who was questioned a couple of times about living anywhere else but Texas in the two years before filing. Every time they said they have only lived in Texas.
The reason it is important to know where the Debtor lived before filing is he is claiming the State Exemptions because of the equity in his house. In order to be eligible to use the Texas State Exemptions the Debtor must have lived in Texas for the two years prior to filing bankruptcy.
Once the Debtor gets to his 341 hearing and the Trustee asked him if he lived in Texas for the two years prior to filing bankruptcy and the Debtor responds yes. The Trustee then asks if he has lived anywhere else during that two year period, and the Debtor says he has lived in California before he moved to Texas and has only lived in Texas for the past year and a half. The Debtor now faces the problem of being forced to turn his house over to the Trustee, refinancing the house to give the Trustee the money, converting his case to a Chapter 13 and being in a 100% plan, or dismissing his case and the debt he has not being dischargeable. If the Debtor had been open and completely honest with our office, we could have advices him that he needed to wait until he had been in Texas for the full two years.
Please fill out our free evaluation form to determine if bankruptcy is right for you.
