Is California Adjusting Its Bankruptcy Exemptions for Inflation in 2023?

 

The Federal Government adjusts Federal exemption amounts every three years. Does California adjust exemption amounts?

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Each state has its own set of exemption laws, apart from the federal bankruptcy exemptions under § 522. 

Does California Adjust Its State Exemptions for Inflation?

California updates its exemption amounts every three years. (§703.150) (The last revision was  in 2022; the next will be April 1, 2025.) As a result, the amounts listed in this chart (from the 2019 revisions) may not match the amounts that appear in the cited statutes. The 2022 exemption amounts can be found on form EJ-156 the California Judicial Council Website.

Revised Federal Bankruptcy Exemption Amounts As of April 1, 2022

Can I use the Federal Exemptions in California?:

No. Federal exemptions not available. Instead, California has two systems of exemptions, one of which ("C2") closely mirrors the federal scheme. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 703.130 

The federal bankruptcy exemptions are revised every three years. The last change was in 2019 and now they are changing again in 2022. The next change will be in 2025.

Not all states allow their residents to use the Federal Bankruptcy Exemptions.

The following are the new Federal Bankruptcy exemption amounts, effective April 1:

Exemption: Amount
Homestead  - § 522(d)(1) $27,900
Motor Vehicle  - § 522(d)(2)    $4,450
Household Goods  - § 522(d)(3)
- Per Item Limit
- Aggregate Limit

   $700
 $14,875
Jewelry  - § 522(d)(4)    $1,875
Wild Card  - § 522(d)(5) 
- Any property
- Unused homestead under § 522(d)(1)
 
 $1,475
$13,950
Tools of the Trade -  § 522(d)(6)    $2,800
Unmatured Life Insurance - § 522(d)(8)  $14,875
Personal Injury Claims - § 522(d)(11)(D)  $27,900
 

Here's What Other States Do

Every state also has its own exemption laws. Some of these states revise them for inflation, just like the federal government. The table below shows what each state does.

Some states (Alabama, Arizona, Alaska, California. Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio, and South Carolina) periodically adjust their statutory exemption limits for inflation.

See the table below for more details. 


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Jurisdictional relevance: ST

There are versions of this article for each State.