Moving to Kansas – Unlimited Homestead Exemption
Kansas has a very favorable homestead exemption. The homestead exemption in Kansas is unlimited, which means you could own a million dollar home in Kansas and still keep all the equity in your Kansas home even after filing for Bankruptcy protection. Some people want to move to Kansas and transfer money they had in other assets or another home to a Kansas home so they can keep more of their assets. The Bankruptcy laws have some limitations on that.
You Have to Be a Kansas Resident for 730 Days
In order to file for Bankruptcy protection in Kansas and claim the unlimited homestead exemption, you must have been domiciled (permanently lived) in Kansas for 730 days prior to filing your Bankruptcy petition. Sometimes people move often and do not have long periods of a domicile. If there is not a single domicile during the 730 day period before Bankruptcy, then the Bankruptcy court will look at the 180 days before the 730 days. In other words, the Bankruptcy court can look at your domicile for two and a half years before filing your Bankruptcy petition. If you, as the debtor, have resided in the same state during the 180 days (before the 730 days), that state’s exemptions are used. If you, as the debtor, have resided in several places in that 180 period (before the 730 days), then the court will use the state’s exemptions of where you have resided the longest. If for an unlikely reason that no state’s exemptions can be used, the Federal exemptions will be used.
So What Does All of This Mean?
If you want to put all of your assets in a Kansas home, you need to reside in Kansas for at least 730 days before you file for Bankruptcy protection.
Kansas City Bankruptcy Attorneys Troppito Miller Griffin, LLC
We advise you to consult us to see if we can help you to plan for your Bankruptcy and take advantage of the best exemptions in either Missouri or Kansas for your situation. Your goal is to keep more of your assets and property after filing for Bankruptcy, and we are here to help you do that. Give us a call today.