Connecticut State Bankruptcy Exemptions
§ 52-352b. Exempt property.
The following property of any natural person shall be exempt:
(a) Necessary apparel, bedding, foodstuffs, household furniture and appliances;
(b) Tools, books, instruments, farm animals and livestock feed, which are
necessary to the exemptioner in the course of his or her occupation, profession
or farming operation;
(c) Burial plot for the exemptioner and his or her immediate family;
(d) Public assistance payments and any wages earned by a public assistance
recipient under an incentive earnings or similar program;
(e) Health and disability insurance payments;
(f) Health aids necessary to enable the exemptioner to work or to sustain
health;
(g) Workers' compensation, Social Security, veterans and unemployment benefits;
(h) Court approved payments for child support;
(i) Arms and military equipment, uniforms or musical instruments owned by any
member of the militia or armed forces of the United States;
(j) One motor vehicle to the value of one thousand five hundred dollars,
provided value shall be determined as the fair market value of the motor
vehicle less the amount of all liens and security interests which encumber it;
(k) Wedding and engagement rings;
(l) Residential utility deposits for one residence, and one residential security
deposit;
(m) Any assets or interests of an exemptioner in, or payments received by the
exemptioner from, a plan or arrangement described in section 52-321a;
(n) Alimony and support, other than child support, but only to the extent that
wages are exempt from execution under section 52-361a;
(o) An award under a crime reparations act;
(p) All benefits allowed by any association of persons in this state towards the
support of any of its members incapacitated by sickness or infirmity from
attending to his usual business;
(q) All moneys due the exemptioner from any insurance company on any insurance
policy issued on exempt property, to the same extent that the property was
exempt;
(r) Any interest of the exemptioner in any property not to exceed in value one
thousand dollars;
(s) Any interest of the exemptioner not to exceed in value four thousand dollars
in any accrued dividend or interest under, or loan value of, any unmatured life
insurance contract owned by the exemptioner under which the insured is the
exemptioner or an individual of whom the exemptioner is a dependent;
(t) The homestead of the exemptioner to the value of seventy-five thousand
dollars, or, in the case of a money judgment arising out of services provided
at a hospital, to the value of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars,
provided value shall be determined as the fair market value of the real
property less the amount of any statutory or consensual lien which encumbers
it; and
(u) Irrevocable transfers of money to an account held by a bona fide nonprofit
debt adjuster licensed pursuant to sections 36a-655 to 36a-665, inclusive, for
the benefit of creditors of the exemptioner.
§ 52-361a. Execution on wages after judgment.
(a) Application. If a judgment debtor fails to comply with an installment
payment order, the judgment creditor may apply to the court for a wage
execution. The application shall contain the judgment creditor's or his
attorney's statement setting forth the particulars of the installment payment
order and of the judgment debtor's failure to comply. The application shall be
accompanied by a fee of thirty-five dollars payable to the clerk of the court
for the administrative costs of complying with the provisions of this section
which fee may be recoverable by the judgment creditor as a taxable cost of the
action.
(b) Issuance. On receipt of the application, a clerk of the Superior Court shall
issue a wage execution against the judgment debtor, directed to a levying
officer, to enforce payment of the judgment.
(c) Contents. The wage execution shall state (1) the names and last-known
addresses of the judgment creditor and judgment debtor, (2) the court in which
and the date on which the money judgment was rendered, (3) the original amount
of the money judgment and the amount due thereon, (4) any limitation on the
execution ordered by the court pursuant to a motion for modification thereof,
(5) the portion of the judgment debtor's earnings which are subject to levy
thereunder, or the information necessary to determine such portion, and (6) any
information which the judgment creditor provides to identify the judgment
debtor's employer. The wage execution shall notify any employer of the manner
prescribed by this section for complying with the execution and shall be
accompanied by a notice of judgment debtor rights and a claim form as
prescribed by section 52-361b.
(d) Levy. The levying officer shall levy on all earnings which are due or become
due to the judgment debtor to the extent specified in the wage execution plus
the levying officer's fee and costs, until the judgment is satisfied, or the
execution is modified or set aside, by serving the employer with the wage
execution, the required notice of rights and the claim forms. On receipt
thereof, the employer shall forthwith deliver a copy thereof to the judgment
debtor, or mail such copy postage prepaid to the judgment debtor at his
last-known address. On service of the wage execution on the employer, the wage
execution shall automatically be stayed for a period of twenty days and shall
thereafter immediately become a lien and continuing levy on such portion of the
judgment debtor's earnings as is specified in the wage execution, provided if a
claim is filed in accordance with subsection (d) of section 52-361b within
twenty days of such service on the employer, the stay shall continue until
determination of the claim. Any service of process or other notice required
under this section may be made in accordance with section 52-57 or by certified
mail, return receipt requested, provided a levying officer may make such
service by mail only to an address within such officer's appointed
jurisdiction.
(e) Service and return. A wage execution shall be served within one year from
its issuance and returned within thirty days from the satisfaction of the
judgment.
(f) Amount subject to levy. The maximum part of the aggregate weekly earnings of
an individual which may be subject under this section to levy or other
withholding for payment of a judgment is the lesser of (1) twenty-five per cent
of his disposable earnings for that week, or (2) the amount by which his
disposable earnings for that week exceed forty times the higher of (A) the
minimum hourly wage prescribed by Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards
Act of 1938, USC Title 29, Section 206(a)(1), or (B) the full minimum fair wage
established by subsection (j) of section 31-58, in effect at the time the
earnings are payable. Unless the court provides otherwise pursuant to a motion
for modification, the execution and levy shall be for the maximum earnings
subject to levy and shall not be limited by the amount of the installment
payment order. Only one execution under this section shall be satisfied at one
time. Priority of executions under this section shall be determined by the
order of their presentation to the employer.
(g) Employer responsibilities. Any employer served with a wage execution,
including the state and any municipality, shall, upon expiration of the
automatic stay of execution and subject to any further stay pursuant to a
claim, pay over to the levying officer such portion of the judgment debtor's
nonexempt earnings as the execution prescribes until the judgment is satisfied
or the execution modified or set aside. The payments to the levying officer in
compliance with the execution shall bar any action against the employer for
such payments. If the employer fails or refuses to pay the earnings levied
against to the levying officer, the employer may be subjected to a turnover
order pursuant to section 52-356b and, on a finding of contempt, may be held
liable to the judgment creditor for any amounts which he has so failed or
refused to pay over. Any amount so recovered by the judgment creditor shall be
applied toward payment of the judgment.
(h) Modification. Either party may apply at any time to the court which issued
the wage execution for a modification of the execution. After notice and
hearing or pursuant to a stipulation, the court may make such modification of
the execution as is reasonable.
(i) Assignment of earnings. Any assignment by an employee of his earnings shall
be void except (1) payments due for support in public welfare cases and
payments pursuant to a family support judgment, and (2) deductions for union
dues and initiation fees in accordance with the terms of a duly executed
contract between an employer and his employees or a collective bargaining agent
or in accordance with a duly executed authorization signed by the employee for
the payment of such dues or initiation fees or both to such collective
bargaining agent.
(j) Unlawful discipline, suspension or discharge. Notwithstanding any other
provision of the general statutes to the contrary, no employer may discipline,
suspend or discharge an employee because of any wage execution against the
employee unless the employer is served with more than seven wage executions
against the employee in a calendar year. An employer who violates this
subsection shall be liable to the employee for all earnings and all employment
benefits lost by the employee from the time of the unlawful discipline,
suspension or discharge to the time of reinstatement.
(k) Status of defendant. Notwithstanding any provision of law, the remedy
provided by this section shall be available to any judgment creditor and the
status of the defendant as an elected or appointed official of any branch of
the government of this state may not be interposed as a defense.
§ 30-14. Nature and duration of permit. Renewal by transferee or purchaser of
permit premises.
(a) A permit shall be a purely personal privilege that expires annually, except
a permit issued under sections 30-25, 30-35, 30-37b, 30-37d, 30-37g and 30-37h,
and revocable in the discretion of the Department of Consumer Protection
subject to appeal as provided in section 30-55. A permit shall not constitute
property, nor shall it be subject to attachment and execution, nor shall it be
alienable, except that it shall descend to the estate of a deceased permittee
by the laws of testate or intestate succession. A railroad permit or an airline
permit shall be granted to the railroad corporation or airline corporation and
not to any person, and the corporation shall be the permittee.
(b) Any permit in this part, except a permit issued under sections 30-25, 30-35,
30-37b, 30-37d, 30-37g and 30-37h, may be issued for a continuous period of not
more than six consecutive calendar months, at two-thirds of regular fees, but
rebate of fees shall not be permitted for any unexpired portion of the term of
a permit revoked by reason of a violation of any provision of this chapter.
(c) The executors or administrators of the estate of any deceased permittee, and
the trustees of any insolvent or bankrupt estate of a permittee, when such
estate consists in whole or in part of alcoholic liquor, may continue the
business of the sale or manufacture of alcoholic liquor under order of the
appropriate court and may exercise the privileges of the deceased or insolvent
or bankrupt permittee for a period not exceeding six months after the date of
such decease or of such insolvency or bankruptcy, or until such time as the
applicable permit expires, whichever date is later. A certified copy of the
order of the court authorizing the continuance of such business shall be filed
with the department. In the event of the death, insolvency or bankruptcy of a
backer, the permittee of such backer shall have the same rights and privileges
as set forth in this section, provided, in addition to the order of said court,
the executor or administrator of the estate of any deceased backer, or the
trustee of any insolvent or bankrupt estate of a backer, shall file a notice
with the department that he has authorized such permittee to continue such
business.
(d) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, a package store permit may be
renewed by a transferee or purchaser of permit premises under section 30-14a.
§ 38a-637. Money or other benefits not liable to attachment.
No money or other benefit, charity, relief or aid to be paid, provided or
rendered by any society shall be liable to attachment, garnishment or other
process, or to be seized, taken, appropriated or applied by any legal or
equitable process or operation of law to pay any debt or liability of a member
or beneficiary, or any other person who may have a right thereunder, either
before or after payment by the society.
§ 38a-453. Rights of creditors of insured against beneficiary.
(a) The beneficiary of any life insurance policy, being a person other than the
insured, whether named as beneficiary in the original policy or subsequently
named as beneficiary in accordance with the terms of the policy, shall be
entitled to the proceeds of the policy as against the representatives or
creditors of the insured, unless the policy was procured or the designation of
a beneficiary was made with intent, express or implied, to defraud creditors.
(b) If any such policy was procured or any such designation made with the
intent, express or implied, to defraud creditors, the proceeds thereof shall
become a part of the estate of the insured, and the executor or administrator
of the estate shall collect the insurance and use the proceeds thereof so far
as it is required for the expenses of administration and the payment of debts
and pay over the balance, if any, to the beneficiary of the policy. If any
premiums paid on the insurance policy were paid with the intent, express or
implied, to defraud creditors, the amount of the premiums so paid, with
interest thereon, shall become a part of the estate and shall be dealt with as
above provided.
(c) The company issuing the policy shall be discharged of all liability
thereunder by payment of the proceeds in accordance with the terms of the
policy unless, before such payment, the company has received written notice,
from a creditor, executor or administrator of the insured, that the policy was
procured or premiums were paid thereon with intent to defraud creditors. That
notice may be disregarded by the company unless proper legal proceedings to
enforce the claim are begun within three months from the giving of the notice.
(d) This section shall apply to any policy of insurance issued before July 1,
1933, but not to policies which matured by the death of the insured before July
1, 1933.
§ 10-183q. Funds not assignable and exempt from attachment.
The portion of each member's compensation deducted or to be deducted under this
chapter and all rights of each member and of each survivor to receive benefits
or other payments under this chapter shall be exempt from the operation of any
laws relating to bankruptcy or insolvency; and shall not be subject to
garnishment, attachment, execution, levy or any other similar legal process of
any court. No assignment of any right of a member or any other person to
receive benefits or other payments from the system shall be valid. The funds of
the system invested in personal property shall be exempt from taxation.
§ 5-171. Assignments prohibited.
Any assignment by a member or beneficiary of any amount payable to either under
the terms of this chapter shall be null and void. Each such payment shall be
for the support of the member or beneficiary entitled thereto and shall be
exempt from the claims of creditors of such member and beneficiary. If the
provisions of this section are contrary to the law governing a particular
circumstance, then, as to that circumstance, any payment shall be exempt to the
maximum extent permitted by law.
§ 7-446. Assignments prohibited.
Any assignment by a member or beneficiary of any allowance or benefit payable
under the terms of this part shall be null and void. Each such allowance and
benefit shall be for the support of the member or beneficiary entitled thereto
and shall be exempt from the claims of creditors of such member and
beneficiary, provided, if the provisions of this section are contrary to the
laws governing a particular set of circumstances, as to that set of
circumstances, any allowance or benefit payable hereunder shall be exempt to
the maximum extent permitted by law.
Note: Exemptions may have changed since our last update.
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