Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in North Carolina

You need to move to amend your exemptions to add the funds. Unfortunately, the only exemption that would apply would be the wild card exemption, allowing you to protect a maximum of $5,000.00 if you have not already used it.

I agree with Attorney Love that you can only protect $5,000 of this money on the exemption form. But there are other ways to protect it and announcing on a public bulletin board that you have money was ... not the brightest thing to do. People have ways of finding out information and if the creditor learns of this there is no reason why they cannot garnish it before it leaves the hands of the estate.

I suggest that you consult an attorney. The creditor can only garnish the funds if they can find the funds. So keeping them out of a regular brick and mortar bank would be key. But what about resolving the debt? How much is the judgment for? Who is the creditor and law firm? Is the judgment only against one of you? When will the estate be settled? Soon? In the next 6 months? A year from now? If later, then maybe you don't need to amend the exemptions now. They can only be enforced for 90 days.

You should consult with an attorney to ascertain your circumstances and determine how to best protect the money.