If you have reached the point where you cannot keep up with your debts, it may be time to consider filing for bankruptcy. Under Montana bankruptcy laws, you can get court protection against lawsuits from your creditors, and the laws even protect some of your belongings so you will not be destitute in the end.

Bankruptcy Exemptions

Montana bankruptcy law places some exemptions on your estate. These are the items you can keep through the bankruptcy process.

• Up to $250,000 for your homestead
• Up to $4,500 for household goods, clothing, jewelry, and furniture, with no single item at more than $600
• Up to $2,500 for your motor vehicle
• Up to $4,000 for life insurance contracts (unmatured)
• Up to $3,000 for tools of the trade
• Public assistance and benefits
• Prescription health aids
• Any insurance proceeds from an exempt item that was lost, damaged or destroyed
• Medical, disability, or illness benefits
• Maintenance and child support payments
• 75 percent of earnings weekly
• Any items necessary for government work
• Burial plot
• Retirement benefits
• Proceeds from hail insurance, disability insurance, life insurance, or group life insurance
• Up to $350 per month for annuity contracts
• Any share sin cooperative associations
• Association property and cemetery lands
• Public compensation programs

Keep in mind that certain potentially exempt assets may still be repossessed if you have a loan on them that you cannot pay. You will then be given the value of the exemption after the item is sold. If you have a loan that you wish to keep current, make sure you reaffirm the loan with the lender.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Information

If you qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection by passing the means test, which indicates that you make at or below the median income level in Minnesota, you can file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which eliminates most qualifying debts after your assets are sold. Some debts, like taxes, are not eliminated.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Information

If you cannot file Chapter 7, Chapter 13 bankruptcy gives you court protection as you work to repay your debts under a court-supervised repayment plan. For some, this allows them to keep some assets that otherwise would end up reposed. For others, it provides some breathing room as they attempt to do what they can to pay off their debts.