BkAssist ® - Exemptions Story Board - 3
We have popped up the Asset Dialog for the debtors' primary residence:
What you're seeing:
- The "Exemption" group of fields allows you to tailor the exemption claim for the asset you're looking at.
- We know (because we did a title search) that the Aardvarks have recorded a declaration of homestead in the Suffolk
County registry of deeds. Hence, we will want to use the "declared homestead" exemption instead of the "automatic homestead" exemption.
- We assign an exemption basis by clicking on the arrow associated with the "Basis for exemption" field and then selecting one of the choices.
In this case, we previously selected "declared homestead". We've revisited the list to show you the rest of the story.
- If you let the mouse hover over an exemption choice, BkAssist will pop up a "tool tip" that contains the statutory reference and
a quotation from the statute itself. You don't need to rely on some non-lawyer's summary of the exemption law.
- It's often easiest to select an exemption basis and to then click on the "Auto Exempt" button. If you do this after selecting a
basis for the exemption, BkAssist will apportion the available exemption (the "headroom") amongst joint debtors according to their
respective equity in the property. If you do this when the current exemption basis is "not exempt," BkAssist will assign a default basis
according to the category of property and then apportion it.
- Watch your advance sheets for information about the "100% of FMV" choice, which is a very hot topic as we're writing this storyboard.
You can see what's happening with exemptions in more detail by selecting the "Exemptions summary" screen from the list of information
choices on the Schedules & Forms page...