Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Georgia

Not sure where to file bankruptcy

We had a business failure in 2006, and will have to foreclose homes in NY and FL. Our income now is a pension and disability. We bought a house in GA because it was the only place we could afford to live in Oct. 2006. We want to permanently settle in GA, and surrender the homes in NY and FL. We now have some high credit card debt also, unable to pay it all off. We have lived and worked in NY and have filed our IRS taxes there for many years. Because we split our time in FL, we did homesteaded there and are registered to vote there (because of the financial advantage of homesteading--we are both over 60 years old.) We are confused where to file--NY where we have the longest residency, FL where we have the greatest protection, or GA where we plan to relocate and permanently live (with the least amount of homestead protection). We want to protect the GA home the best way, our income is exempt, but we have credit card debt that needs to be dealt with somehow. All this is confusing, and we have asked several lawyers and each one said to do something different. Thank you.


Asked on 2/02/07, 6:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Scott Riddle Law Office of Scott B. Riddle, LLC

Re: Not sure where to file bankruptcy

There are two separate issues. One, in which state can you file. Two, what state's exemptions apply. The answer to the questions is not necessarily the same. For the first question, since you don't live in GA, you can't file here. You need to live here (or any other state) for 180 days. If you split time, all facts will be analyzed to see which is appropriate. However, even if you are eligible to file in a state, you must have been there 2 years to use the exemptions. Thus, you can just move to Florida for 6 months, and use their much broader exemptions. You will use the exemptions of your prior residence. Jonathan Alper's site (www.bankruptcyorlando.com) has some information on these questions.

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Answered on 2/02/07, 6:26 pm


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