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Home » Bankruptcy » 2019 Fed­eral Bank­ruptcy Exemp­tion Amounts, Means Test Lim­its, and Chap­ter 13 Debt Lim­its

2019 Fed­eral Bank­ruptcy Exemp­tion Amounts, Means Test Lim­its, and Chap­ter 13 Debt Lim­its

March 10, 2019 by Albin Renauer

Photo of money hanging out to dry to illustrate concept of federal bankruptcy exemption amounts
The U.S. gov­ern­ment has updated the Fed­eral Reg­is­ter with new fed­eral bank­ruptcy exemp­tion amounts effec­tive April 1, 2019.

This affects not only fed­eral bank­ruptcy exemp­tions under 11 U.S.C. § 522 but also the exemp­tion amounts for a few states that tie their exemp­tion amounts to the fed­eral amounts, includ­ing Mary­land and Ohio, and Cal­i­for­nia.

As of April 1, 2019, the new fed­eral bank­ruptcy exemp­tion amounts and rules are as listed below.

2019 Fed­eral Bank­ruptcy Exemp­tion Changes By Sub­ject Mat­ter

The fol­low­ing list groups the 2019 changes by sub­ject. For more infor­ma­tion on each of these top­ics, see our 50 State Bank­ruptcy Exemp­tions sec­tion.

Fil­ing Lim­its

The debt limit for fil­ing for Chap­ter 13 increases from 394,725 to $419,275.

Means Test Form

The max­i­mum monthly edu­ca­tion expense for each depen­dent stu­dent (line 29) changes to $170.83.

Pen­sions /​ IRA

The IRA exemp­tion increases from 1,283,025 to $1,362,800.

Fed­eral Bank­ruptcy Exemp­tions as of April 1, 2019

Exemp­tion §522(d) Cur­rent New
Home­stead (1) $23,675 $25,150
Motor Vehi­cle (2) $3,775 $4,000
House­hold (3) $600 (per item)
$12,625 (total)
$625
$13,400
Jew­elry (4) $1,600 $1,700
Wild­card (5) $1,250
$11,850 (home­stead car­ry­over)
$1,325
$12,575
Trade (6) $2,375 $2,525
Life Insur­ance (8) $12,625 $13,400
Per­sonal Injury (11)(D) $23,675 $25,150

2019 Bank­ruptcy Changes by Form

The fol­low­ing list shows 2019 changes to offi­cial bank­ruptcy forms and instruc­tions.

  • Offi­cial Form 106C, The Prop­erty You Claim as Exempt, Line 3
  • Offi­cial Form 107, Your State­ment of Finan­cial Affairs for Indi­vid­u­als Fil­ing for Bank­ruptcy, Line 6
  • Offi­cial Form 122A‑2, Chap­ter 7 Means Test Cal­cu­la­tion, Lines 29 and 40
  • Offi­cial Form 122C‑2, Chap­ter 13 Cal­cu­la­tion of Your Dis­pos­able Income, Line 29
  • Offi­cial Form 201, Vol­un­tary Peti­tion for Non-​Individuals, Line 8
  • Offi­cial Form 207, State­ment of Your Finan­cial Affairs, Lines 3 and 4
  • Offi­cial Form 410, Proof of Claim, Line 12
  • Director’s Form 2000, Required Lists, Sched­ules, State­ments, and Fees, Pages 2, 3, and 4
  • Director’s Form 2830, Chap­ter 13 Debtor’s Cer­ti­fi­ca­tions Regard­ing Domes­tic Sup­port Oblig­a­tions and Sec­tion 522(q), Part III
  • Instruc­tions for Indi­vid­ual Debtors, Pages 9 and 24
  • Instruc­tions for Non-​Individual Debtors, Page 12
  • Director’s Form 2500E, Instruc­tions, Page 1

2019 Bank­ruptcy Changes by Fed­eral Code Sec­tion

Affected sec­tions

Amount to be adjusted

New (adjusted) dol­lar amount 1

28 U.S.C.
Sec­tion 1409(b)—a trustee may com­mence a pro­ceed­ing aris­ing in or related to a case to recover
(1)—money judg­ment of or prop­erty worth less than $1,300 $1,375
(2)—a con­sumer debt less than 19,250 20,450
(3)—a non con­sumer debt against a non insider less than 12,850 13,650
11 U.S.C.
Sec­tion 101(3)—definition of assisted per­son 192,450 204,425
Sec­tion 101(18)—definition of fam­ily farmer (*) 4,153,150 (*) 4,411,400
Sec­tion 101(19A)—definition of fam­ily fish­er­man (*) 1,924,550 (*) 2,044,225
Sec­tion 101(51D)—definition of small busi­ness debtor (*) 2,566,050 (*) 2,725,625
Sec­tion 109(e)—debt lim­its for indi­vid­ual fil­ing bank­ruptcy under chap­ter 13 (*) 394,725
(*) 1,184,200
(*) 419,275
1,257,850
Sec­tion 303(b)—minimum aggre­gate claims needed for the com­mence­ment of an invol­un­tary chap­ter 7 or 11 peti­tion
(1)—in para­graph (1) 15,775 16,750
(2)—in para­graph (2) 15,775 16,750
Sec­tion 507(a)—priority expenses and claims
(1)—in para­graph (4) 12,850 13,650
(2)—in para­graph (5)(B)(i) 12,850 13,650
(3)—in para­graph (6)(B) 6,325 6,725
(4)—in para­graph (7) 2,850 3,025
Sec­tion 522(d)—value of prop­erty exemp­tions allowed to the debtor
(1)—in para­graph (1) (home­stead) 23,675 25,150
(2)—in para­graph (2) (motor vehi­cle) 3,775 4,000
(3)—in para­graph (3) (house­hold prop­erty
per item
/​aggregate)
600
12,625
625
13,400
(4)—in para­graph (4) (jew­elry) 1,600 1,700
(5)—in para­graph (5)
(wild­card)
(unused home­stead, up to)
1,250
11,850
1,325
12,575
(6)—in para­graph (6) (tools of trade) 2,375 2,525
(7)—in para­graph (8) (life insur­ance) 12,625 13,400
(8)—in para­graph (11)(D) (per­sonal injury) 23,675 25,150
Sec­tion 522(f)(3)—exception to lien avoid­ance under cer­tain state laws 6,425 6,825
Sec­tion 522(f)(4)—items excluded from def­i­n­i­tion of house­hold goods for lien avoid­ance pur­poses (*) 675 (*) 725
Sec­tion 522(n)—maximum aggre­gate value of assets in indi­vid­ual retire­ment accounts exempted 1,283,025 1,362,800
Sec­tion 522℗—qualified home­stead exemp­tion 160,375 170,350
Sec­tion 522(q)—state home­stead exemp­tion 160,375 170,350
Sec­tion 523(a)(2)©—exceptions to dis­charge
(1)—in para­graph (i)(I)—consumer debts for lux­ury goods or ser­vices incurred < 90 days before fil­ing owed to a sin­gle cred­i­tor in the aggre­gate 675 725
(2)—in para­graph (i)(II)—cash advances incurred < 70 days before fil­ing in the aggre­gate 950 1,000
Sec­tion 541(b)—property of the estate exclu­sions
(1)—in para­graph (5)©—education IRA funds in the aggre­gate 6,425 6,825
(2)—in para­graph (6)©—pre-purchased tuition cred­its in the aggre­gate 6,425 6,825
(3)—in para­graph (10)©—qualified ABLE pro­gram funds in the aggre­gate 6,425 6,825
Sec­tion 547©(9)—preferences, trustee may not avoid a trans­fer if, in a case filed by a debtor whose debts are not pri­mar­ily con­sumer debts, the aggre­gate value of prop­erty is less than 6,425 6,825
Sec­tion 707(b)—dismissal of a chap­ter 7 case or con­ver­sion to chap­ter 11 or 13 (means test)
(1)—in para­graph (2)(A)(i)(I) 7,700 8,175
(2)—in para­graph (2)(A)(i)(II) 12,850 13,650
(3)—in para­graph (2)(A)(ii)(IV) 1,925 2,050
(4)—in para­graph (2)(B)(iv)(I) 7,700 8,175
(5)—in para­graph (2)(B)(iv)(II) 12,850 13,650
(6)—in para­graph (5)(B) 1,300 1,375
(7)—in para­graph (6)© 700 750
(8)—in para­graph (7)(A)(iii) 700 750
Sec­tion 1322(d)—contents of chap­ter 13 plan, monthly income (*) 700 (*) 750
Sec­tion 1325(b)—chapter 13 con­fir­ma­tion of plan, dis­pos­able income (*) 700 (*) 750
Sec­tion 1326(b)(3)—payments to for­mer chap­ter 7 trustee 25 25
1 The New (Adjusted) Dol­lar Amounts reflect a 6.218 per­cent increase, rounded to the near­est $25.
* Each time it appears.

[FR Doc. 2019–01903 Filed 2–11-19; 8:45 am]

More Infor­ma­tion

For more help with your bank­ruptcy case, see our bank­ruptcy learn­ing cen­ter.

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Tagged With: bankruptcy exemptions, chapter 13, chapter 7, means test

About Albin Renauer

Albin Renauer is the founder of Legal Consumer, which he began in 2006 as an online companion to his book, How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Albin received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1985. He worked for various public-interest law firms in the Bay Area and also as a staff attorney for Chief Justice Rose Bird of the California Supreme Court. He also spent 17 years as an editor at Nolo, where he helped create numerous books and software programs, including the bestselling WillMaker. He edited Law on the Net, the first online directory of legal resources and was the architect of Nolo's Webby Award winning website during the dot-com boom.

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