Valone v. Waage (In re Valone)
May 01, 2015OUTCOME: Circuit court confirming that bankruptcy protections are not protections that would prohibit a debtor from claiming section 222.25(4).
In this case, the debtors filed chapter 13 bankruptcy with a plan to keep their home but did not claim the Florida constitutional homestead protection and elected instead to claim the personal property ... protection of sec. 222.25(4), Fla. Stat. The trustee objected to exemption asserting that despite not claiming the homestead exemption, the debtors were still receiving its benefits due to the protections under chapter 13 and were thus barred from claiming the personal property protection. The bankruptcy court and district court agreed with the trustee on appeal. Appeal was taken to the Eleventh Circuit and the decisions were reversed with the circuit court confirming that bankruptcy protections are not protections that would prohibit a debtor from claiming section 222.25(4).
