Maine Bankruptcy Laws and Maine Bankruptcy Attorney

What Can I Keep?

Under Maine bankruptcy law, you may keep:

• Your residence or burial plot to $35,000 or $70,000 if minor dependents live with you or if you or any of your dependents are either at least 60 years old or disabled
• Proceeds from sale of residence are exempt for six months from receipt if used to purchase another residence
• One motor vehicle, up to $5,000 in value
• Clothing, furniture, appliances, household goods, books, animals, crops or musical instruments, up to $200 in value per item
• Jewelry to $750
• Tools of the trade to $5,000
• One cooking stove, all furnaces or stoves used for heating and cooking and heating fuel
• Food for six months
• Seeds, fertilizers, feed and other material to raise and harvest food through one growing season
• Tools and equipment for raising and harvesting food
• One of every type of farm implement to raise and harvest agricultural products commercially
• One boat, not exceeding 5 tons burden, used for commercial fishing
• Un matured life insurance contract that is not a credit life insurance contract
• Life insurance dividends or interest to $4,000
• Professionally prescribed health aids
• Social security benefit, unemployment compensation and local public assistance benefit
• A veterans benefit
• A disability, illness and unemployment benefit
• Alimony, support or separate maintenance necessary for support
• Payment or account under a stock bonus, pension, profit-sharing, annuity or similar plan or contract on account of illness, disability, death, age or length of service
• Payment or account under an individual retirement account or similar plan or contract on account of illness, disability, death, age or length of service to $15,000 or to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor or dependents, whichever is greater
• An award under a crime victims reparation law
• A payment on account of the wrongful death of an individual of whom you are a dependent
• A payment under a life insurance contract that insured the life of an individual of whom you were a dependent on the date of the individuals death
• A payment to $12,500 for personal bodily injury
• A payment in compensation for your loss of future earnings or for the loss of future earnings of an individual of whom you are or were a dependent
• Other property to $500
• Up to $6,000 of any unused residence exemption towards clothing, furniture, appliances, tools of the trade, legal awards and life insurance benefits

The Maine bankruptcy law does not wipe out voluntary liens, like mortgages and deeds of trust, or tax liens. So the lender still has the right to foreclose if you do not pay. If you pay, everyone is happy. Remember, the lender does not want the property; it wants you to pay regularly on the loan. Foreclosure is a last resort for the lender if it concludes it can’t get the owed money any other way.

If you still owe money on the car, you can choose to reaffirm the debt to the secured lender. Under the new law, you have to reaffirm your car loan within 45 days after the "341 meeting." You no longer have the option of continuing your car payments without reaffirming the loan. Once the loan is reaffirmed, if you default on your payments and the car is repossessed, you are liable for the repossession deficiency.

You also have the option to redeem the car within 45 days of the "341 meeting" by buying it from the secured creditor in a single payment for its present value.

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