The biggest surprise is clearly the increase of the homestead exemption, especially for married couples, who were limited under the old law to preserve $40,000 in their homestead. A married couple can now exempt up to $150,000 in their residence, provided the household qualifies for the exemption.

2009 Senate Bill 259 is set to publish on December 15, 2009, which will become effective on December 16, 2009. The exemptions are set to change as follows:

Consumer Goods

Increased from $5,000 to $12,000

Motor Vehicles

Increased from $1,200 to $4,000

Personal Injury Awards

Increased from $25,000 to $50,000.

Depository Accounts

Increased from $1,000 to $5,000

Qualified Homestead

Increased from $40,000 per household to $75,000 per spouse.

For business debtors and consumer debtors who have businesses:

Equipment, Inventory, Farm Products, Professional Business Books

Increased from $7,500 to $15,000

*What is an exemption, anyway?”

An exemption describes what a bankruptcy filer can keep when filing a liquidation case, such as a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. For example, if a Wisconsin bankruptcy filer owns an automobile worth less than $4,000, the new exemption law allows you to keep the vehicle. Under the old law, you could only keep vehicles that did not exceed a value of of $1,200.