What exactly is my Arizona Bankruptcy Estate?

When you file bankruptcy everything that you own is included in a legal fiction called a “bankruptcy estate”. A bankruptcy estate is a concept, nothing is actually physically transferred to the bankruptcy estate when the case is filed but everything you own is considered to be in the bankruptcy estate for the trustee to administer. In many bankruptcy cases even though everything you own goes into the bankruptcy estate as the case progresses there will be a time when it is all “returned” to you because it is “exempt property”. Exempt property is property that cannot be seized or attached by any creditor. Click here to see a list of exempt property in Arizona. If you have property that is not exempt, than your lawyer will advise you about your options in dealing with the property. One option is to sell it prior to filing bankruptcy. In that case, the proceeds from the sale must be tracked and spent on reasonable and necessary expenses. Another option is to do nothing with the expectation that the trustee does not want the property because it will not produce a meaningful amount of money for your unsecured creditors. There may be other options so please seek the advice of a competent Tucson bankruptcy attorney for answers to your specific situation.