Checkett & Pauly, P.C.

Missouri Bankruptcy Exemptions - Including 2004 Amendment

The law in the United States on debtor and creditor relations is more than a little curious. Our country has no debtor prisons; you cannot go to jail for failing to pay your bills. In fact, probably in keeping with our nation's philosophy of individual rights, debtors can retain a certain amount of real and personal property free of any claims from a trustee in bankruptcy or of general creditors outside of bankruptcy. The Missouri exemptions listed below work both in state court as well as federal bankruptcy court. The idea is to allow debtors their "fresh start" and begin all over with enough assets to provide a modest existence. At the same time, debtors must remember that all assets come in to the bankruptcy estate and are subject to the jurisdiction of the court and the trustee. In the initial bankruptcy pleadings, the debtor claims certain exemptions, subject to objection by the trustee and all creditors. The bankruptcy judge then determines whether the property is exempt. For this reason, if an asset is not listed in the bankruptcy schedules, it is not exempt and remains forever subject to the claims of the trustee and creditors. Exemptions are personal to living breathing human beings, they are not allowed to corporations or general partners with respect to partnership property. Exemption rights are determined by the debtor's place of residence on the date the bankruptcy is filed. Missouri's exemptions are not as generous as some states, for example, Kansas' unlimited homestead. The law of exemptions and how they apply in any particular case gets to be very complicated and subject to disagreements with the trustee and trials before the bankruptcy judge. This article is current through the statutory amendment which went into effect August 28, 2004. That said, what follows is a very general outline of Missouri's exemptions.