Massachusetts legislators recently increased the bankruptcy exemption for automobiles, but the new law doesn’t stop there.
The new law, signed by the governor last week, and slated to take effect in early April, also allows debtors who use the Massachusetts bankruptcy exemptions to keep up to $2,500 in a savings or checking bank account when they file. This is an important advantage for debtors, because the current level is only $500.
What the lawmakers didn’t do, however, was create a true “wild-card” exemption under Mass. law, which would have allowed protection for any goods or investments a debtor holds at the time of a bankruptcy filing. Debtors who qualify to use the federal exemptions can exempt almost $12,000 in any type of property by using the federal “wild-card.”
This is not the time or place to quibble, however, as the new Massachusetts law will eventually provide a lot of real help to Mass. residents who need to file bankruptcy.
By Doug Beaton