If I Currently Live Out-of-State, Can I File Bankruptcy in Minnesota?

If you currently live outside of Minnesota, you may wonder if you can still file for bankruptcy in Minnesota. Do I need to be a resident of Minnesota to file for bankruptcy in Minnesota? Well, the residency requirements to file in Minnesota are quite easy to be met. You simply have to have lived in Minnesota for at least 91 days in order to file for bankruptcy in Minnesota. 

    However, simply because you have lived in Minnesota for 91 days, does not mean you are able to use Minnesota state exemption law to protect your personal property. The type of exemption law applied in your bankruptcy case is important because state law and federal law afford different types of protections for all of your assets. Federal exemption law contains a statute called a “wildcard provision” that can protect approximately $15,000 of miscellaneous property that is not already protected under a given statute, such as additional vehicles, money in your bank accounts, and tax refunds. For instance, if federal exemption law is applied, the motor vehicle statute can protect one vehicle with equity up to $4,450. Any equity remaining in the vehicle can be protected by the wildcard provision. 

If you have lived in multiple states throughout the two years prior to filing for bankruptcy, then we have to look at the 180 days (6 months) preceding those two years, to determine whether you can apply a particular state’s exemption law. If you lived in Minnesota for the majority of the 180 days preceding the two years prior to filing for bankruptcy, then you are allowed to use Minnesota exemption law in your bankruptcy case, as well as federal law. This is because the state of Minnesota allows federal exemption law to be applied in a bankruptcy case. In contract, other states do not allow federal exemption law in a bankruptcy case. For instance, the state of Florida does not allow federal exemption law in a bankruptcy case, only their state law. Therefore, if you lived in a state other than Minnesota, for the majority of the 180 days preceding the two years prior to filing for bankruptcy, then you would have to apply that state’s exemption law – application of federal exemption law is only a possibility, because it depends on whether that particular state allows federal exemption law to be applied in a bankruptcy case. If you have lived in multiple states in the two years prior to filing for bankruptcy, then determining whether you can file in Minnesota, or whether another state’s law must be applied to your bankruptcy, can be tricky.

CALL NOW FOR A FREE STRATEGY SESSION FROM A MN BANKRUPTCY LAWYER AT LIFEBACK LAW FIRM 

To discern the state’s law that can be applied to your case, whether federal law can be applied, and whether you can file for bankruptcy in Minnesota, you should consult with an experienced bankruptcy attorney. See us at LifeBackLaw.com!