Federal bankruptcy exemptions are the categories of property you’re allowed to keep when you file under 11 U.S.C. § 522(d), with dollar limits that currently range from $1,675 of wildcard property up to $31,575 of home equity. The figures were last adjusted on April 1, 2025, and they govern cases filed through March 31, 2028. Congress reindexes them to the Consumer Price Index every three years.
Current Exemption Amounts
These are the categories and caps in effect right now:
- Homestead. Up to $31,575 in equity in your primary residence, including a mobile home, co-op, or burial plot.
- Motor vehicle. Up to $5,025 in equity in one vehicle.
- Household goods. Up to $16,850 total for furniture, appliances, clothing, books, animals, and similar items, with a per-item cap of $800.
- Jewelry. Up to $2,125.
- Tools of the trade. Up to $3,175 for professional tools, books, or equipment you use to earn a living.
- Unmatured life insurance. A policy you own that hasn’t paid out is exempt, with up to $16,850 in loan value also protected.
- Health aids. Professionally prescribed health aids for you or a dependent, with no dollar cap.
- Government benefits. Social Security, unemployment compensation, veterans’ benefits, and public assistance.
- Personal bodily injury awards. Up to $31,575 for payments on account of bodily injury to you or someone you depended on. This does not cover pain-and-suffering awards or compensation for economic losses like lost wages, which fall under separate provisions.
- Wildcard. $1,675 that can be applied to any property, plus up to $15,800 of any unused homestead exemption.
All figures come from the Judicial Conference’s most recent adjustment notice.1Federal Register. Adjustment of Certain Dollar Amounts Applicable to Bankruptcy Cases Older articles quoting $27,900 for the homestead or $4,450 for a vehicle are using 2022 numbers that no longer apply to new filings.
Retirement Accounts and Pensions
Retirement savings sit outside the main exemption table and get some of the strongest protection in the code. Employer-sponsored plans that qualify under ERISA, such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and traditional pensions, are fully exempt with no dollar cap. The balance in those accounts is essentially untouchable regardless of size.
Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs work differently. They’re exempt up to an aggregate cap of $1,711,975 across all your IRA accounts combined.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 522 – Exemptions A bankruptcy court can increase that cap if fairness requires it, though most individual filers fall well below the limit. SEP-IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs are excluded from the cap and treated more like employer plans.
How the Wildcard Works
The wildcard is the most flexible piece of the federal list. Under § 522(d)(5), you get a base of $1,675 that can be applied to any property, with no category restriction. On top of that, any portion of the $31,575 homestead exemption you don’t use can be redirected to other property, up to $15,800.1Federal Register. Adjustment of Certain Dollar Amounts Applicable to Bankruptcy Cases
For a renter with no home equity to protect, that works out to $17,475 of wildcard coverage. That pool can shield a bank account balance, a tax refund, stocks, equity in a second vehicle, or even a pending lawsuit recovery. A homeowner who uses the full $31,575 homestead still has the $1,675 base, but nothing more from this provision. The wildcard is often the difference between keeping and losing something that doesn’t fit cleanly into another category. If you have $8,000 sitting in a checking account and no home equity, the wildcard covers it. Without it, cash in the bank is one of the first things a Chapter 7 trustee targets.
How Property Is Valued
The exemption caps only matter against what your property is actually worth, and bankruptcy uses a specific standard. Under § 522(a)(2), “value” means fair market value as of the date you file your petition.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 522 – Exemptions For property with a loan against it, only the unencumbered equity counts. A car worth $12,000 with a $9,000 loan has $3,000 in equity, which falls comfortably under the $5,025 vehicle cap.
People sometimes miscalculate here. You’re not protecting the purchase price or the replacement cost of your couch. You’re protecting what someone would pay for the used couch today. Most household goods and older vehicles carry far less equity than their owners assume, which means the dollar caps go further than they look on paper.
What Exemptions Do in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13
The same categories and caps apply in both consumer chapters, but they produce different outcomes. In a Chapter 7 case, a court-appointed trustee can sell your non-exempt property and distribute the proceeds to creditors. Anything you successfully exempt stays off the table entirely. If your car equity falls under the cap, the trustee cannot touch it. If it exceeds the cap, the trustee can sell the car, hand you the exempt amount in cash, and send the rest to creditors.
In Chapter 13, nobody sells your property. You propose a repayment plan lasting three to five years. Exemptions still matter because your plan must pay unsecured creditors at least as much as they would have received in a hypothetical Chapter 7 liquidation. The more non-exempt property you own, the higher your monthly plan payments need to be.
Not Every Filer Can Use the Federal List
Congress gave each state the authority to prohibit its residents from choosing federal exemptions, and roughly two-thirds of states have done so. In those jurisdictions you must use whatever exemptions your state legislature has created, even if they’re less generous than the federal list.
The remaining states let filers choose between the federal exemptions and the state exemptions. You pick whichever system protects more of your specific property.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 522 – Exemptions The critical rule is that you must choose one system entirely. You cannot combine the federal homestead exemption with a state vehicle exemption or cherry-pick from both lists. Several states offer unlimited homestead exemptions that dwarf the federal $31,575; others have minimal homestead protection but generous personal property allowances. Which system works better depends on what you own.
The 730-Day Residency Rule
Where you’ve lived recently determines which exemption laws apply. Under § 522(b)(3)(A), you must have lived in a state for at least 730 consecutive days before filing to use that state’s exemptions.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 522 – Exemptions If you moved during that two-year window, the court looks back to the 180 days before the 730-day period and applies the exemption laws of whatever state you spent the most time in during those six months.
The rule exists to stop people from relocating to a better exemption state right before filing. It also creates an awkward gap for people who moved for ordinary reasons. If the look-back points to a state whose exemption laws don’t apply to non-residents, the bankruptcy code provides a safety valve: you default to the federal exemptions under § 522(d), even if you’re filing in a state that normally opts out.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 522 – Exemptions Anyone who has moved across state lines in the past two to three years should map out their residency timeline carefully before filing.
The 1,215-Day Cap on Recently Acquired Home Equity
Even in states with unlimited homestead exemptions, federal law puts a ceiling on recently acquired home equity. Under § 522(p), if you acquired your interest in a home within 1,215 days (about three years and four months) before filing, your homestead exemption is capped at $214,000, regardless of what state law allows.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 522 – Exemptions The provision targets people who pour large sums into home equity shortly before bankruptcy to shelter the money from creditors.
Married Couples Filing Jointly
When spouses file a joint petition, each gets a full set of exemptions. Under § 522(m), the exemption provisions apply separately to each debtor in a joint case.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 US Code 522 – Exemptions A couple using the federal list can protect up to $63,150 in home equity, $10,050 in vehicle equity across two cars, and up to $34,950 in combined wildcard coverage if neither spouse uses the homestead.
The one restriction is that both spouses must use the same exemption system. One spouse cannot elect federal exemptions while the other uses state exemptions. If the couple cannot agree, they default to the federal list in states where that option exists.
You Have to Claim Them
Exemptions don’t apply automatically. You must affirmatively list every asset you want to protect on Schedule C of your bankruptcy petition, specifying which exemption category covers each item and the value you’re claiming.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 522 – Exemptions If you forget to list an asset, it stays property of the estate and the trustee can take it.
Courts generally allow amendments to Schedule C, so an honest oversight isn’t necessarily fatal. After you file your exemption list, the trustee and creditors have 30 days from the conclusion of the meeting of creditors to object. If no one objects within that window, the property is exempt as a matter of law, even if you arguably claimed more than you were entitled to. That deadline makes the initial exemption filing one of the most consequential documents in the whole case.