In your Divorce and often the Bankruptcy what is exempt from creditors. 235-1970

 Exemptions

1. Federal Exemptions

§17.7   Exempt property is property of the bankruptcy estate that the debtor can keep to implement the fresh start policies of the Bankruptcy Code and that is protected from distribution to creditors. However, certain types of claims, such as nondischargeable tax claims and DSOs, can be recovered even from exempt property.

Posted here by Flint Bankruptcy Attorney Terry Bankert 235-1970. See Http://www.attorneybankert.com

The Bankruptcy Code allows a debtor to choose between the standardized federal exemption scheme found in the Bankruptcy Code and the exemption schemes found in each state’s specific statutes. Exemptions allow debtors to exclude various types of property from the bankruptcy estate—essentially, the property is “brought in” by 11 USC 541 and then taken back out once the exemption is deemed allowed. Under the Bankruptcy Code, as of April 20, 2010, each individual debtor may take the following exemptions:

• homestead (up to $21,625)
• motor vehicle (up to $3,450)
• household furnishings (up to $11,525)
• jewelry (up to $1,450)
• “wild card”—$1,075 plus up to $10,825 of any unused homestead exemption—this may be applied to anything
• tools of the trade (up to $2,175)
• unmatured life insurance contract
• dividends from unmatured life insurance (up to $11,525)
• health aids
• right to receive Social Security benefit; veterans benefit; disability benefit; alimony or support; and payment under a stock, bonus, pension, profitsharing, or similar plan
• right to receive an award or payment related to reparations for a crime, wrongful death, a life insurance contract, personal bodily injury, or loss of future earnings
• retirement funds
• 
  Michigan Family Law ch 17 (Hon. Marilyn J. Kelly et al eds, ICLE 7th ed 2011), at
  http://www.icle.org/modules/books/chapter.aspx/?lib=family&book=2011553510&chapter=17
  (last updated 12/16/2011).