Judgments: What are the State Exemptions for West Virginia?
West Virginia is one of the states you don’t want to be sued in. As well as a paltry homestead exemption, they also allow judgments creditors to take your life insurance cash value. I knew an elderly man (I’ll call him Roy), who lived in Grafton, WV on a small retirement in a modest home. A neighbor stepped on his beagle, Bessie’s, tail. Bessie bit the neighbor (barely breaking skin). The neighbor won a judgment for $250,000 and Roy lost his home and was forced to cash in his life insurance policy. A year later, Roy passed away and his wife was left with nothing. Roy (and his wife) lost his home and his entire life savings because his neighbor stepped on his dog’s tail. If you are on the receiving end of a judgment, you don’t want to live in Virginia: they allow anyone with a judgment in hand (like credit card companies) to clean you out.
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This is a list of exemptions. In other words, these are the items you’ll be allowed to keep. Your creditor will get the rest.
- Homestead: $25,000. Unused portion is a “wild card” that you can apply to other property.
- Car: $2,400
- Clothing, household goods, furnishings, appliances, books, musical instruments, animals and crops: $400 per item, $8,000 total
- Jewelry: up to $1,000
- Health aids: exempt
- Personal injury recoveries: $15,000
- College prepaid tuition: exempt
- Wrongful death recoveries: exempt (if you are a dependent of the deceased)
- Burial plot: $25,000 (in lieu of homestead).
- Pensions: Tax exempt retirement accounts, Traditional and Roth IRAs are exempt up to $1,095,000 per person.
- Public employees. Teachers, ERISA-qualified benefits and IRAs needed for support are all exempt.
- Public Benefits: exempt
- Crime victims’ compensation, unemployment compensation, social security, and Veterans’ benefits: all exempt.
- Workers’ compensation: exempt
- Tools of Trade: $1,500.
- Alimony and Child Support: exempt (to a certain dollar value, the judge decides how much you need for support)
- Insurance: Group life insurance cash value and proceeds, Fraternal benefit society benefits, Unmatured life insurance contract
- Insurance, other: life insurance contract cash value, interest, or dividend: $8,000
(except for credit life insurance contract), health or disability benefits, life insurance dividends, interest, loan, cash, or surrender value for person you are a dependent of: exempt
Related posts:
- Judgments: What are the State Exemptions for Virginia?
- Bankruptcy and Judgments: What are the State Exemptions for Colorado?
- Bankruptcy and Judgments: What are the State Exemptions for Washington?
- Bankruptcy and Judgments: What are the State Exemptions for Wyoming?
- Judgments: What are the State Exemptions for Utah?
