Bankruptcy exemptions: what property you actually keep

File for bankruptcy and you don't lose everything. Federal law (11 U.S.C. §522(d)) lets you "exempt" — keep — a set dollar amount in specific categories: home equity, a vehicle, household goods, jewelry, tools of your trade, and a flexible "wildcard" that mops up whatever's left. Anything above those caps is what a trustee could reach. The method is just: compare each asset to its cap, protect the smaller of the two, and add up what's left.

The method

For each category, protected amount = the lesser of what you own and the cap. The federal caps, effective April 1, 2025 (next adjustment April 2028):

• Home equity (homestead): $31,575
• One vehicle: $5,025
• Household goods & furnishings (aggregate, $800 per-item cap): $16,850
• Jewelry: $2,125
• Tools of your trade: $3,175
• Wildcard: $1,675, plus up to $15,800 of any unused homestead exemption

Married couples filing jointly generally double every one of those numbers. The wildcard is the interesting one: whatever homestead cap you don't use against actual home equity gets added to it, up to $15,800. Own little or no home equity, and your wildcard grows to protect cash and everything else instead.

A single filer, worked through

Say a single filer has $20,000 of home equity, $6,000 of vehicle equity, $10,000 of household goods, $3,000 of jewelry, $1,500 of tools, and $20,000 of cash and other property — $60,500 in total.

1. Home: $20,000 is under the $31,575 cap, so all $20,000 is protected. That leaves $31,575 − $20,000 = $11,575 of unused homestead.
2. Wildcard: $1,675 base + $11,575 unused homestead (under the $15,800 cap) = $13,250.
3. Vehicle: $6,000 is over the $5,025 cap — $5,025 protected, $975 exposed.
4. Household goods: $10,000 is under the $16,850 cap, all protected.
5. Jewelry: $3,000 is over the $2,125 cap — $2,125 protected, $875 exposed.
6. Tools: $1,500 is under the $3,175 cap, all protected.
7. Cash & other: $20,000 against the $13,250 wildcard — $13,250 protected, $6,750 exposed.

Add up the protected column: $20,000 + $5,025 + $10,000 + $2,125 + $1,500 + $13,250 = $51,900 protected. Total assets were $60,500, so $8,600 is exposed — which checks out against the individual overages too: $975 + $875 + $6,750 = $8,600.

Married, filing jointly, with real home equity

Joint filers double every cap, which matters most on the home. Take $150,000 of home equity, $9,000 combined vehicle equity, $12,000 of household goods, $2,000 of jewelry, $4,000 of tools, and $5,000 of cash — $182,000 in total.

1. Home: the doubled cap is $31,575 × 2 = $63,150. $150,000 exceeds it, so $63,150 is protected and $86,850 is exposed. No homestead goes unused, so the wildcard gets nothing extra.
2. Wildcard: $1,675 × 2 = $3,350 (base only).
3. Vehicles: $9,000 is under the doubled $10,050 cap, all protected.
4. Goods: $12,000 is under the doubled $33,700 cap, all protected.
5. Jewelry: $2,000 is under the doubled $4,250 cap, all protected.
6. Tools: $4,000 is under the doubled $6,350 cap, all protected.
7. Cash: $5,000 against the $3,350 wildcard — $3,350 protected, $1,650 exposed.

Protected total: $63,150 + $9,000 + $12,000 + $2,000 + $4,000 + $3,350 = $93,500. Exposed: $182,000 − $93,500 = $88,500 — almost all of it the home equity that ran past the cap.

The catch: most states don't let you use these numbers

Only about 19 states plus DC let a debtor choose the federal set at all; the other roughly 31 are "opt-out" states that require their own, often different, state exemption list instead. Two states (Delaware and West Virginia) are disputed in the sources. Before relying on any figure above, confirm your state actually allows it — otherwise these numbers are reference only.

Retirement accounts, Social Security, and prescribed health aids are protected separately and aren't part of this asset list at all — don't count them as "at risk." This is organization, not legal advice; verify with an attorney and your state's own exemption statute before filing.

Run your own numbers

The free Federal Bankruptcy Exemptions tool runs this instantly for your own numbers, filing status and state, entirely on your device.