Texas Bankruptcy Exemptions

• Bankruptcy exemptions are a way you can protect your property in a chapter 7 bankruptcy. While modeled on federal bankruptcy exemptions, each state determines its own specific exemptions. As a resident of Hurst, you benefit from the generous homestead exemption in Texas, which allows you to protect a homestead of unlimited value. In total, Texas offers eight categories of exemptions, including pensions, public benefits, personal property, wages, tools of trade, insurance, the homestead exemption and a miscellaneous category.
  
  

Texas Bankruptcy Districts

• By law, you must file your bankruptcy petition in the correct bankruptcy district. Texas has four bankruptcy districts, and each district has between four and seven courthouses. As Hurst is in Tarrant County, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Northern Bankruptcy District of Texas. The closest Northern District courthouse to Hurst is in Fort Worth. The other courthouses are in Abilene, Dallas, Amarillo, Lubbock, Wichita Falls and San Angelo.
  
  

Texas Median Income

• The first step in qualifying for bankruptcy in Hurst is the median income test. If you want to file chapter 7 bankruptcy, you must demonstrate to the court that you have insufficient income to fund a creditor repayment plan as is found in chapter 13 bankruptcy. You can reach this determination if your annual income is less than the median income in the Texas for a family of your size. If your income exceeds this median, you must take the means test to qualify for chapter 7.
  
  

Texas Allowable Expenses

• The means test allows you to subtract certain acceptable expenses from your income to see if you still qualify for chapter 7. Some of the expenses are determined by national data, while other data, such as housing and utility expenses, are broken down by county. If you live in Hurst, you must use the Tarrant County figures as determined by the IRS. If your income is too high after subtracting these expenses, the court will not permit you to file chapter 7.
  
  

Texas Bankruptcy Procedures

• Once you qualify for either chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy, you must complete your petition and submit it to a Northern District court. About a month later, you must appear before your bankruptcy trustee for a short review of your petition. If you file chapter 13, you also must attend a confirmation meeting for your payment plan. Approximately two months after the meeting with your trustee, you will receive your bankruptcy discharge in a standard chapter 7 case. For a chapter 13 case, you must complete your payment plan before earning your discharge.