Email this page to a friendGeorgia 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.
44-13-1 Exemptions from levy and sale.
Except as otherwise provided in this article, there shall be exempt from levy and sale by virtue of any process whatever under the laws of this state any real or personal property or both of a debtor in the amount of $5,000.00. No court or ministerial officer in this state shall ever have jurisdiction or authority to enforce any judgment, execution, or decree against property set apart under this Code section, including such improvements as may be made thereon from time to time, except for taxes, for the purchase money of the property, for labor done on the property, for material furnished for the property, or for the removal of encumbrances on the property.
A debtor generally is entitled to exemption from levy and sale by virtue of any legal process any real or personal property, or both, in the amount of $5,000.00. (Section 44-13-1.) If a debtor refuses to apply for exemption under this provision, his spouse, qualified representatives of his minor children or dependents, may make such pplication and the exemption is binding upon the debtor. (Section 44-13-2.)
44-13-100 Exemption for purpose of bankruptcy.
(a) In lieu of the exemption provided in Code Section 44-13-1, any debtor who is a natural person may exempt, pursuant to this article, for purposes of bankruptcy, the following property:
(1) The debtor's aggregate interest, not to exceed $10,000.00 in value, in real property or personal property that the debtor or a dependent of the debtor uses as a residence, in a cooperative that owns property that the debtor or a dependent of the debtor uses as a residence, or in a burial plot for the debtor or a dependent of the debtor. In the event title to property used for the exemption provided under this paragraph is in one of two spouses who is a debtor, the amount of the exemption hereunder shall be $20,000.00;
(2) The debtor's right to receive:
(A) A social security benefit, unemployment compensation, or a local public assistance benefit;
(B) A veteran's benefit;
(C) A disability, illness, or unemployment benefit;
(D) Alimony, support, or separate maintenance, to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and any dependent of the debtor;
(E) A payment under a pension, annuity, or similar plan or contract on account of illness, disability, death, age, or length of service, to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and any dependent of the debtor; and
(F) A payment from an individual retirement account within the meaning of Title 26 U.S.C. Section 408 to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and any dependent of the debtor;
(2.1) The debtor's aggregate interest in any funds or property held on behalf of the debtor, and not yet distributed to the debtor, under any retirement or pension plan or system:
(A) Which is: (i) maintained for public officers or employees or both by the State of Georgia or a political subdivision of the State of Georgia or both; and (ii) financially supported in whole or in part by public funds of the State of Georgia or a political subdivision of the State of Georgia or both;
(B) Which is: (i) maintained by a nonprofit corporation which is qualified as an exempt organization under Code Section 48-7-25 for its officers or employees or both; and (ii) financially supported in whole or in part by funds of the nonprofit corporation;
(C) To the extent permitted by the bankruptcy laws of the United States similar benefits from the private sector of such debtor shall be entitled to the same treatment as those specified in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph,
provided that the exempt or nonexempt status of periodic payments from such a retirement or pension plan or system shall be as provided under subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2) of this subsection; or
(D) An individual retirement account within the meaning of Title 26 U.S.C. Section 408;
(3) The debtor's interest, not to exceed the total of $3,500.00 in value, in all motor vehicles;
(4) The debtor's interest, not to exceed $300.00 in value in any particular item, in household furnishings, household goods, wearing apparel, appliances, books, animals, crops, or musical instruments that are held primarily for the personal, family, or household use of the debtor or a dependent of the debtor. The exemption of the debtor's interest in the items contained in this paragraph shall not exceed $5,000.00 in total value;
(5) The debtor's aggregate interest, not to exceed $500.00 in value, in jewelry held primarily for the personal, family, or household use of the debtor or a dependent of the debtor;
(6) The debtor's aggregate interest, not to exceed $600.00 in value plus any unused amount of the exemption, not to exceed $5,000.00, provided under paragraph (1) of this subsection, in any property;
(7) The debtor's aggregate interest, not to exceed $1,500.00 in value, in any implements, professional books, or tools of the trade of the debtor or the trade of a dependent of the debtor;
(8) Any unmatured life insurance contract owned by the debtor, other than a credit life insurance contract;
(9) The debtor's aggregate interest, not to exceed $2,000.00 in value, less any amount of property of the estate transferred in the manner specified in Section 542(d) of U.S. Code Title 11, in any accrued dividend or interest under, or loan or cash 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;
(10) Professionally prescribed health aids for the debtor or a dependent of the debtor; and
(11) The debtor's right to receive, or property that is traceable to:
(A) An award under a crime victim's reparation law;
(B) A payment on account of the wrongful death of an individual of whom the debtor was a dependent, to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and any dependent of the debtor;
(C) A payment under a life insurance contract that insured the life of an individual of whom the debtor was a dependent on the date of such individual's death, to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and any dependent of the debtor;
(D) A payment, not to exceed $10,000.00, on account of personal bodily injury, not including pain and suffering or compensation for actual pecuniary loss, of the debtor or an individual of whom the debtor is a dependent; or
(E) A payment in compensation of loss of future earnings of the debtor or an individual of whom the debtor is or was a dependent, to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and any dependent of the debtor.
(b) Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. Section 522(b)(1), an individual debtor whose domicile is in Georgia is prohibited from applying or utilizing 11 U.S.C. Section 522(d) in connection with exempting property from his or her estate; and such individual debtor may exempt from property of his or her estate only such property as may be exempted from the estate pursuant to 11 U.S.C. Section 522(b)(2)(A) and (B). For the purposes of this subsection, an 'individual debtor whose domicile is in Georgia' means an individual whose domicile has been located in Georgia for the 180 days immediately preceding the date of the filing of the bankruptcy petition or for a longer portion of such 180 day period than in any other place.
(c) The exemptions and protections contained in this article are extended to intestate insolvent estates in all cases where there is a living widow or child of the intestate.
For the purposes of bankruptcy, a debtor may elect, in lieu of the exemption provided under Section 44-13-1, the exemption provided under Section 44-13-100 of the Official Code of Georgia. Some of the property which may be exempt include the personal and real property used by a debtor or his dependents as a residence or a burial plot, in the aggregate value of $5,000.00, social security benefits, unemployment comepnstiaon, local public assistance, veteran's benefit, disability benefit, alimony, support or separate maintenance to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and his dependants, pension payments, undistributed interest in retirement plans or pension plan, automobiles in the aggregate value of $1,000.00, household furnishings and goods, wearing apparel, appliances, books, animals, crops, or musical instruments that are primarily for personal family or household use not to exceed $200.00 in value in each item but not to exceed $3,500.00 in aggregate value, jewelry in the aggregate value of $500.00, the debtor's aggregate interest, not to exceed $400.00 in value plus any unused amount of the homestead exemption in any property, professional books or tools of the trade in the aggregate value of $500.00, unmatured life insurance contract, the debtor's aggregate interest in the loan value on any unmatured insurance contract not to exceed $2,000.00, professional health aids, an award under a crime victim's reparation law, payment of not more than $7,500.00 from the recovery for personal injuries excluding pain and suffering or compensation for actual pecuniary loss, and payment for compensation for loss of future earnings to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and his dependants.
An individual debtor whose domicile is in the State of Georgia is specifically prohibited from applying or utilizing the exemptions provided under 11 U.S.C. Section 522(d). An "individual debtor whose domicile is in Georgia" means an individual whose domicile has been located in Georgia for the 180 days immediately preceding the date of the filing of the bankruptcy petition or for a longer portion of such 180 day period than in any other place. (Section 44-13-100(b).)
