Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Minnesota

There's no simple answer to your question. You better consult a competent lawyer. Every situation is different. Even the first sentence of your question - that you can double the federal exemptions - is not always true. Even that depends on a lot of different factors.

When people are filing jointly, one has to look at the exemptions that belong to each of them. They are never actually doubled, but if an asset is joint the effect can look as if they were doubled. Getting that effect in general is easier with the federal exemptions than it is with the state exemptions. For example, the household goods exemption under the state statute says "of the debtor and debtor's family ..." which seems to imply that it's one exemption per family not per person.

Trying to figure this out by yourself is dangerous. The answers aren't always entirely clear.

This response is for general information purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship. This is not legal advice.