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Final Hints on Where I Stand on the Upcoming Arizona Bankruptcy Exemption Wars

By Joseph McDaniel, Esq.

You've looked at the memo from a smart, experienced bankruptcy trustee. And you know darn well he's right about one thing: furniture has to be itemized, not lumped (some bankruptcy trustees have told me they would prefer lumping in their cases, but you need to assume you'll draw a non-lumping bankruptcy trustee).

We know this partly because I've written about it so frequently in the past; for instance, I talk forever about how to fill out the schedules, because that's an important point.

But then we get to the tools of the trade exemption statute in Arizona, and the precise language of that statute.

And when I worked for Chief Bankruptcy Judge Caldwell he told me that analysis always began with the language of the statute.

So here is the language of the statute.

Can you guess what I'll be saying to our current U.S. Bankruptcy Judges if we get an objection to exemption on the tools of the trade statute applied to a computer?

We'll discuss this further. As soon as my brilliant associate Nina the Unpronounceable gets a Round Tuit, I'll start posting the cases which analyze the tools of the trade exemption in Arizona, which should be construed liberally in favor of the debtor. Or you can just look 'em up on fastcase.com, which is easy to use and...fast!

I probably won't bother posting the long line of cases on whether an automobile gets to be exempted in Arizona as a tool of the trade (realtors always ask about that), because that issue was resolved by an amendment to the exemption statute itself. The answer, on an unmodified automobile, is no.

And there will be a contest for bankruptcy attorneys in Arizona: if you think you've done a nice job of responding to the computer exemption objection, email me, and I'll post it here on my blog!

The first-place winner gets a Round Tuit!

As well as a place of honor on my Bankruptcy Blog!

Full post as published by Arizona Bankruptcy Attorney Blog on November 11, 2010 (boomark / email).