Email this page to a friendConnecticut Bankruptcy Exemptions
In general, a debtor may claim exemption of his homestead and non-exempt personal property from attachment or execution of a judgment, or in a bankruptcy proceeding. A judgment debtor generally is entitled to a homestead exemption, up to the market value of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000.00), of the real property occupied by him and his dependents as a residence, less the amount of any statutory or consensual lien which encumbers it. (Section 352b(t).) Personal property which may be subject to exemption as provided under Section 52-352b of the General Statutes include necessary apparel, bedding, foodstuffs, household furniture and appliances; tools, books, instruments, farm animals and livestock feed, which are necessary to the debtor in the course of his or her occupation, profession or farming operation; burial plot for the debtor and his or her immediate family; public assistance payments and any wages earned by a public assistance recipient under an incentive earnings or similar program; health and disability insurance payments; health aids necessary to enable the debtor to work or to sustain health; Workers' compensation, social security, veterans and unemployment benefits; court approved payments for child support; arms and military equipment, uniforms or musical instruments owned by any member of the militia or armed forces of the United States; one motor vehicle up to the market value of $1,500.00 less the amount of all liens and security interests which encumber it; wedding and engagement rings; residential utility deposits for one residence, and one residential security deposit; any assets or interests of the debtor in, or payments received by the debtor from, a plan or arrangement described in section 52-321a; alimony and support, other than child support, but only to the extent that wages are exempt from execution under section 52-361a; an award under a crime reparations act; all benefits allowed by any association of persons in this state towards the support of any of its members incapacitated by sickness or infirmity from attending to his usual business; all moneys due the debtor from any insurance company on any insurance policy issued on exempt property, to the same extent that the property was exempt; any interest of the debtor in any property not to exceed in value $1,000.00; any interest of the debtor not to exceed in value $4,000.00 in any accrued dividend or interest under, or loan value of, any unmatured life insurance contract owned by the debtor under which the insured is the debtor or an individual of whom the debtor is a dependent.
Title 52. Civil Actions Chapter 906. Postjudgment Procedures § 52-352a. Definitions for exempt property provisions
For the purposes of this section and sections 52-352b and 52-353, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) “Value” means fair market value of the exemptioner's equity or unencumbered interest in the property; (b) “Necessary” means reasonably required to meet the needs of the exemptioner and his or her dependents including any special needs by reason of health or physical infirmity; (c) “Exempt” means, unless otherwise specified, not subject to any form of process or court order for the purpose of debt collection; (d) “Exemptioner” means the natural person entitled to an exemption under this section or section 52-352b; (e) “Homestead” means owner-occupied real property or mobile manufactured home, as defined in subdivision (1) of section 21-64, used as a primary residence.
§ 52-352b. Exempt property
The following property of any natural person shall be exempt:
(a) Necessary apparel, bedding, foodstuffs, household furniture and appliances; (b) Tools, books, instruments, farm animals and livestock feed, which are necessary to the exemptioner in the course of his or her occupation, profession or farming operation; (c) Burial plot for the exemptioner and his or her immediate family; (d) Public assistance payments and any wages earned by a public assistance recipient under an incentive earnings or similar program; (e) Health and disability insurance payments; (f) Health aids necessary to enable the exemptioner to work or to sustain health; (g) Workers' compensation, Social Security, veterans and unemployment benefits; (h) Court-approved payments for child support; (i) Arms and military equipment, uniforms or musical instruments owned by any member of the militia or armed forces of the United States; (j) One motor vehicle to the value of three thousand five hundred dollars, provided value shall be determined as the fair market value of the motor vehicle less the amount of all liens and security interests which encumber it; (k) Wedding and engagement rings; (l) Residential utility deposits for one residence, and one residential security deposit; (m) Any assets or interests of an exemptioner in, or payments received by the exemptioner from, a plan or arrangement described in section 52-321a; (n) Alimony and support, other than child support, but only to the extent that wages are exempt from execution under section 52-361a; (o) An award under a crime reparations act; (p) All benefits allowed by any association of persons in this state towards the support of any of its members incapacitated by sickness or infirmity from attending to his usual business; (q) All moneys due the exemptioner from any insurance company on any insurance policy issued on exempt property, to the same extent that the property was exempt; (r) Any interest of the exemptioner in any property not to exceed in value one thousand dollars; (s) Any interest of the exemptioner not to exceed in value four thousand dollars in any accrued dividend or interest under, or loan value of, any unmatured life insurance contract owned by the exemptioner under which the insured is the exemptioner or an individual of whom the exemptioner is a dependent; (t) The homestead of the exemptioner to the value of seventy-five thousand dollars, or, in the case of a money judgment arising out of services provided at a hospital, to the value of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, provided value shall be determined as the fair market value of the real property less the amount of any statutory or consensual lien which encumbers it; and (u) Irrevocable transfers of money to an account held by a bona fide nonprofit debt adjuster licensed pursuant to sections 36a-655 to 36a-665, inclusive, for the benefit of creditors of the exemptioner.
§ 52-352c.
Repealed. (1983, P.A. 83-581, § 39, eff. July 14, 1983; 1984, P.A. 84-546, § 127, eff. June 14, 1984.)
§ 52-352d.
Exempt property of farm partnership
(a) As used in this section, “exempt” shall have the same meaning as set forth in section 52-352a and “farm partnership” means any partnership primarily engaged in the occupation of farming in which at least fifty per cent of the partners are members of the same family. (b) The farm animals and livestock feed which are reasonably required by a farm partnership in the course of its occupation shall be exempt. All moneys due the farm partnership from any insurance company on any insurance policy issued on such property shall also be exempt to the same extent that the property was exempt.
§ 52-353. Levy on and sale of personal property exempt to a certain amount
When an execution debtor owns any personal property which, if not exceeding a certain amount in value, is exempt from execution, and the officer levying the execution believes that its value exceeds the limit of exemption, he may levy on and sell it in the same manner as any other property. If, at the sale, such property brings an amount exceeding the limit of exemption, he shall immediately, on receipt of the purchase money, pay over the amount of the exemption to the execution debtor and apply the balance only on the execution; but, if a sum equal to the amount of the exemption is not bid for such property, he shall immediately return the property to the execution debtor. No money or property belonging or coming to any execution debtor under such a levy as is provided for in this section shall be liable to attachment.
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