Ohio State Bankruptcy Exemptions
§ 2329.66. Exempted interests and rights
(A) Every person who is domiciled in this state may hold property exempt from
execution, garnishment, attachment, or sale to satisfy a judgment or order, as
follows:
(1) (a) In the case of a judgment or order regarding money owed for health care
services rendered or health care supplies provided to the person or a dependent
of the person, one parcel or item of real or personal property that the person
or a dependent of the person uses as a residence. Division (A)(1)(a) of this
section does not preclude, affect, or invalidate the creation under this
chapter of a judgment lien upon the exempted property but only delays the
enforcement of the lien until the property is sold or otherwise transferred by
the owner or in accordance with other applicable laws to a person or entity
other than the surviving spouse or surviving minor children of the judgment
debtor. Every person who is domiciled in this state may hold exempt from a
judgment lien created pursuant to division (A)(1)(a) of this section the
person's interest, not to exceed five thousand dollars, in the exempted
property.
(b) In the case of all other judgments and orders, the person's interest, not
to exceed five thousand dollars, in one parcel or item of real or personal
property that the person or a dependent of the person uses as a residence.
(2) The person's interest, not to exceed one thousand dollars, in one motor
vehicle;
(3) The person's interest, not to exceed two hundred dollars in any particular
item, in wearing apparel, beds, and bedding, and the person's interest, not to
exceed three hundred dollars in each item, in one cooking unit and one
refrigerator or other food preservation unit;
(4) (a) The person's interest, not to exceed four hundred dollars, in cash on
hand, money due and payable, money to become due within ninety days, tax
refunds, and money on deposit with a bank, savings and loan association, credit
union, public utility, landlord, or other person. Division (A)(4)(a) of this
section applies only in bankruptcy proceedings. This exemption may include the
portion of personal earnings that is not exempt under division (A)(13) of this
section.
(b) Subject to division (A)(4)(d) of this section, the person's interest, not
to exceed two hundred dollars in any particular item, in household furnishings,
household goods, appliances, books, animals, crops, musical instruments,
firearms, and hunting and fishing equipment, that are held primarily for the
personal, family, or household use of the person;
(c) Subject to division (A)(4)(d) of this section, the person's interest in one
or more items of jewelry, not to exceed four hundred dollars in one item of
jewelry and not to exceed two hundred dollars in every other item of jewelry;
(d) Divisions (A)(4)(b) and (c) of this section do not include items of
personal property listed in division (A)(3) of this section.
If the person does not claim an exemption under division (A)(1) of this
section, the total exemption claimed under division (A)(4)(b) of this section
shall be added to the total exemption claimed under division (A)(4)(c) of this
section, and the total shall not exceed two thousand dollars. If the person
claims an exemption under division (A)(1) of this section, the total exemption
claimed under division (A)(4)(b) of this section shall be added to the total
exemption claimed under division (A)(4)(c) of this section, and the total shall
not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars.
(5) The person's interest, not to exceed an aggregate of seven hundred fifty
dollars, in all implements, professional books, or tools of the person's
profession, trade, or business, including agriculture;
(6) (a) The person's interest in a beneficiary fund set apart, appropriated, or
paid by a benevolent association or society, as exempted by section 2329.63 of
the Revised Code;
(b) The person's interest in contracts of life or endowment insurance or
annuities, as exempted by section 3911.10 of the Revised Code;
(c) The person's interest in a policy of group insurance or the proceeds of a
policy of group insurance, as exempted by section 3917.05 of the Revised Code;
(d) The person's interest in money, benefits, charity, relief, or aid to be
paid, provided, or rendered by a fraternal benefit society, as exempted by
section 3921.18 of the Revised Code;
(e) The person's interest in the portion of benefits under policies of sickness
and accident insurance and in lump sum payments for dismemberment and other
losses insured under those policies, as exempted by section 3923.19 of the
Revised Code.
(7) The person's professionally prescribed or medically necessary health aids;
(8) The person's interest in a burial lot, including, but not limited to,
exemptions under section 517.09 or 1721.07 of the Revised Code;
(9) The person's interest in the following:
(a) Moneys paid or payable for living maintenance or rights, as exempted by
section 3304.19 of the Revised Code;
(b) Workers' compensation, as exempted by section 4123.67 of the Revised Code;
(c) Unemployment compensation benefits, as exempted by section 4141.32 of the
Revised Code;
(d) Cash assistance payments under the Ohio works first program, as exempted by
section 5107.75 of the Revised Code;
(e) Benefits and services under the prevention, retention, and contingency
program, as exempted by section 5108.08 of the Revised Code;
(f) Disability financial assistance payments, as exempted by section 5115.06 of
the Revised Code.
(10) (a) Except in cases in which the person was convicted of or pleaded guilty
to a violation of section 2921.41 of the Revised Code and in which an order for
the withholding of restitution from payments was issued under division
(C)(2)(b) of that section or in cases in which an order for withholding was
issued under section 2907.15 of the Revised Code, and only to the extent
provided in the order, and except as provided in sections 3105.171 [3105.17.1],
3105.63, 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, and 3123.06 of the Revised Code,
the person's right to a pension, benefit, annuity, retirement allowance, or
accumulated contributions, the person's right to a participant account in any
deferred compensation program offered by the Ohio public employees deferred
compensation board, a government unit, or a municipal corporation, or the
person's other accrued or accruing rights, as exempted by section 145.56,
146.13, 148.09, 742.47, 3307.41, 3309.66, or 5505.22 of the Revised Code, and
the person's right to benefits from the Ohio public safety officers death
benefit fund;
(b) Except as provided in sections 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, and
3123.06 of the Revised Code, the person's right to receive a payment under any
pension, annuity, or similar plan or contract, not including a payment from a
stock bonus or profit-sharing plan or a payment included in division (A)(6)(b)
or (10)(a) of this section, on account of illness, disability, death, age, or
length of service, to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the
person and any of the person's dependents, except if all the following apply:
(i) The plan or contract was established by or under the auspices of an insider
that employed the person at the time the person's rights under the plan or
contract arose.
(ii) The payment is on account of age or length of service.
(iii) The plan or contract is not qualified under the "Internal Revenue Code of
1986," 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C. 1, as amended.
(c) Except for any portion of the assets that were deposited for the purpose of
evading the payment of any debt and except as provided in sections 3119.80,
3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, and 3123.06 of the Revised Code, the person's right
in the assets held in, or to receive any payment under, any individual
retirement account, individual retirement annuity, "Roth IRA," or education
individual retirement account that provides benefits by reason of illness,
disability, death, or age, to the extent that the assets, payments, or benefits
described in division (A)(10)(c) of this section are attributable to any of the
following:
(i) Contributions of the person that were less than or equal to the applicable
limits on deductible contributions to an individual retirement account or
individual retirement annuity in the year that the contributions were made,
whether or not the person was eligible to deduct the contributions on the
person's federal tax return for the year in which the contributions were made;
(ii) Contributions of the person that were less than or equal to the applicable
limits on contributions to a Roth IRA or education individual retirement
account in the year that the contributions were made;
(iii) Contributions of the person that are within the applicable limits on
rollover contributions under subsections 219, 402(c), 403(a)(4), 403(b)(8),
408(b), 408(d)(3), 408A(c)(3)(B), 408A(d)(3), and 530(d)(5) of the "Internal
Revenue Code of 1986," 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C.A. 1, as amended.
(d) Except for any portion of the assets that were deposited for the purpose of
evading the payment of any debt and except as provided in sections 3119.80,
3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, and 3123.06 of the Revised Code, the person's right
in the assets held in, or to receive any payment under, any Keogh or "H.R. 10"
plan that provides benefits by reason of illness, disability, death, or age, to
the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the person and any of the
person's dependents.
(11) The person's right to receive spousal support, child support, an
allowance, or other maintenance to the extent reasonably necessary for the
support of the person and any of the person's dependents;
(12) The person's right to receive, or moneys received during the preceding
twelve calendar months from, any of the following:
(a) An award of reparations under sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the Revised
Code, to the extent exempted by division (D) of section 2743.66 of the Revised
Code;
(b) A payment on account of the wrongful death of an individual of whom the
person was a dependent on the date of the individual's death, to the extent
reasonably necessary for the support of the person and any of the person's
dependents;
(c) Except in cases in which the person who receives the payment is an inmate,
as defined in section 2969.21 of the Revised Code, and in which the payment
resulted from a civil action or appeal against a government entity or employee,
as defined in section 2969.21 of the Revised Code, a payment, not to exceed
five thousand dollars, on account of personal bodily injury, not including pain
and suffering or compensation for actual pecuniary loss, of the person or an
individual for whom the person is a dependent;
(d) A payment in compensation for loss of future earnings of the person or an
individual of whom the person is or was a dependent, to the extent reasonably
necessary for the support of the debtor and any of the debtor's dependents.
(13) Except as provided in sections 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, and
3123.06 of the Revised Code, personal earnings of the person owed to the person
for services in an amount equal to the greater of the following amounts:
(a) If paid weekly, thirty times the current federal minimum hourly wage; if
paid biweekly, sixty times the current federal minimum hourly wage; if paid
semimonthly, sixty-five times the current federal minimum hourly wage; or if
paid monthly, one hundred thirty times the current federal minimum hourly wage
that is in effect at the time the earnings are payable, as prescribed by the
"Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938," 52 Stat. 1060, 29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1), as
amended;
(b) Seventy-five per cent of the disposable earnings owed to the person.
(14) The person's right in specific partnership property, as exempted by
division (B)(3) of section 1775.24 of the Revised Code;
(15) A seal and official register of a notary public, as exempted by section
147.04 of the Revised Code;
(16) The person's interest in a tuition credit or a payment under section
3334.09 of the Revised Code pursuant to a tuition credit contract, as exempted
by section 3334.15 of the Revised Code;
(17) Any other property that is specifically exempted from execution,
attachment, garnishment, or sale by federal statutes other than the "Bankruptcy
Reform Act of 1978," 92 Stat. 2549, 11 U.S.C.A. 101, as amended;
(18) The person's interest, not to exceed four hundred dollars, in any
property, except that division (A)(18) of this section applies only in
bankruptcy proceedings.
(B) As used in this section:
(1) "Disposable earnings" means net earnings after the garnishee has made
deductions required by law, excluding the deductions ordered pursuant to
section 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, or 3123.06 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Insider" means:
(a) If the person who claims an exemption is an individual, a relative of the
individual, a relative of a general partner of the individual, a partnership in
which the individual is a general partner, a general partner of the individual,
or a corporation of which the individual is a director, officer, or in control;
(b) If the person who claims an exemption is a corporation, a director or
officer of the corporation; a person in control of the corporation; a
partnership in which the corporation is a general partner; a general partner of
the corporation; or a relative of a general partner, director, officer, or
person in control of the corporation;
(c) If the person who claims an exemption is a partnership, a general partner
in the partnership; a general partner of the partnership; a person in control
of the partnership; a partnership in which the partnership is a general
partner; or a relative in, a general partner of, or a person in control of the
partnership;
(d) An entity or person to which or whom any of the following applies:
(i) The entity directly or indirectly owns, controls, or holds with power to
vote, twenty per cent or more of the outstanding voting securities of the
person who claims an exemption, unless the entity holds the securities in a
fiduciary or agency capacity without sole discretionary power to vote the
securities or holds the securities solely to secure to debt and the entity has
not in fact exercised the power to vote.
(ii) The entity is a corporation, twenty per cent or more of whose outstanding
voting securities are directly or indirectly owned, controlled, or held with
power to vote, by the person who claims an exemption or by an entity to which
division (B)(2)(d)(i) of this section applies.
(iii) A person whose business is operated under a lease or operating agreement
by the person who claims an exemption, or a person substantially all of whose
business is operated under an operating agreement with the person who claims an
exemption.
(iv) The entity operates the business or all or substantially all of the
property of the person who claims an exemption under a lease or operating
agreement.
(e) An insider, as otherwise defined in this section, of a person or entity to
which division (B)(2)(d)(i), (ii), (iii), or (iv) of this section applies, as
if the person or entity were a person who claims an exemption;
(f) A managing agent of the person who claims an exemption.
(3) "Participant account" has the same meaning as in section 148.01 of the
Revised Code.
(4) "Government unit" has the same meaning as in section 148.06 of the Revised
Code.
(C) For purposes of this section, "interest" shall be determined as follows:
(1) In bankruptcy proceedings, as of the date a petition is filed with the
bankruptcy court commencing a case under Title 11 of the United States Code;
(2) In all cases other than bankruptcy proceedings, as of the date of an
appraisal, if necessary under section 2329.68 of the Revised Code, or the
issuance of a writ of execution.
An interest, as determined under division (C)(1) or (2) of this section, shall
not include the amount of any lien otherwise valid pursuant to section 2329.661
of the Revised Code.
§ 2329.63. Beneficiary funds exempt
A beneficiary fund, not exceeding five thousand dollars, set apart,
appropriated, or paid by a benevolent association or society, according to its
rules, regulations, or bylaws, to the family of a deceased member, or to a
member of such family, is not liable to be taken by process or proceedings,
legal or equitable, to pay any debt of such deceased member.
§ 3911.10. Proceeds exempt from claims of creditors
All contracts of life or endowment insurance or annuities upon the life of any
person, or any interest therein, which may hereafter mature and which have been
taken out for the benefit of, or made payable by change of beneficiary,
transfer, or assignment to, the spouse or children, or any persons dependent
upon such person, or an institution or entity described in division (B)(1) of
section 3911.09 of the Revised Code, or any creditor, or to a trustee for the
benefit of such spouse, children, dependent persons, institution or entity, or
creditor, shall be held, together with the proceeds or avails of such
contracts, subject to a change of beneficiary if desired, free from all claims
of the creditors of such insured person or annuitant. Subject to the statute of
limitations, the amount of any premium upon such contracts, endowments, or
annuities, paid in fraud of creditors, with interest thereon, shall inure to
their benefit from the proceeds of the contracts, but the company issuing any
such contract is discharged of all liability thereon by the payment of its
proceeds in accordance with its terms, unless, before such payment, written
notice is given to it by a creditor, specifying the amount of the claim and the
premiums which the creditor alleges have been fraudulently paid.
§ 3917.05. Exemption of policy proceeds from attachment
No policy of group insurance, nor the proceeds thereof, when paid to any
employee thereunder, is 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 liability of such employee, his beneficiary, or
any other person who may have a right thereunder, either before or after
payment.
§ 3921.18. Exemption of benefits
No money or other benefit, charity, relief, or aid to be paid, provided, or
rendered by any fraternal benefit society, shall be liable to attachment,
garnishment, or other process, or shall 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, either before or after payment by the society.
§ 3923.19. Benefits exempt from legal process; exception
The portion of any benefits under all policies of sickness and accident
insurance as does not exceed six hundred dollars for each month during any
period of disability covered by the policies, is not liable to attachment or
other process, or to be taken, appropriated, or applied by any legal or
equitable process or by operation of law, either before or after payment of the
benefits, to pay any liabilities of the person insured under any such policy.
This exemption does not apply if an action is brought to recover for
necessaries contracted for during the period of disability, and if the
complaint contains a statement to that effect.
When a policy provides for a lump sum payment because of a dismemberment or
other loss insured, the payment is exempt from execution by the insured's
creditors.
§ 1721.10. Exemptions of burial grounds
Lands appropriated and set apart as burial grounds, either for public or for
private use, and recorded or filed as such in the office of the county recorder
of the county where they are situated, and any burial ground that has been used
as such for fifteen years are exempt from sale on execution on a judgment,
taxation, dower, and compulsory partition; but land appropriated and set apart
as a private burial ground is not so exempt if it exceeds in value the sum of
fifty dollars.
§ 517.09. No levy on lots
No lot held by any individual in a cemetery, shall, in any case, be levied on
or sold on execution.
§ 3304.19. Rights not transferable; not subject to execution
The right of a handicapped person to living maintenance under sections 3304.11
to 3304.27, inclusive, of the Revised Code, is not transferable or assignable
at law or in equity, and none of the money paid or payable or rights existing
under this act are subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or
other legal process, or to the operation of any bankruptcy or insolvency law.
§ 4123.67. Compensation exempt from attachment or execution
Except as otherwise provided in sections 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03,
and 3123.06 of the Revised Code, compensation before payment shall be exempt
from all claims of creditors and from any attachment or execution, and shall be
paid only to the employees or their dependents. In all cases where property of
an employer is placed in the hands of an assignee, receiver, or trustee, claims
arising under any award or finding of the industrial commission or bureau of
workers' compensation, pursuant to this chapter, including claims for premiums,
and any judgment recovered thereon shall first be paid out of the trust fund in
preference to all other claims, except claims for taxes and the cost of
administration, and with the same preference given to claims for taxes.
§ 4141.32. Benefits may not be waived or assigned; exempt from execution
Except as permitted by Chapter 4141. of the Revised Code:
(A) No agreement by an employee to waive his right to benefits is valid, nor
shall benefits be assigned, released, or commuted; and
(B) Such benefits are exempt from all claims of creditors and from levy,
execution, garnishment, attachment, and all other process or remedy for
recovery or collection of a debt, which exemption may not be waived.
§ 1775.24. Co-ownership of specific partnership property; incidents of tenancy
(A) A partner is co-owner with his partners of specific partnership property
holding as a tenant in partnership.
(B) The incidents of this tenancy are such that:
(1) A partner, subject to this chapter, and to any agreement between the
partners, has an equal right with his partners to possess specific partnership
property for partnership purposes; but he has no right to possess the property
for any other purpose without the consent of his partners.
(2) A partner's right in specific partnership property is not assignable except
in connection with the assignment of rights of all the partners in the same
property.
(3) A partner's right in specific partnership property is not subject to
attachment or execution, except on a claim against the partnership. When
partnership property is attached for a partnership debt, the partners, or any
of them, or the representatives of a deceased partner, cannot claim any right
under exemption laws.
(4) On the death of a partner, his right in specific partnership property vests
in the surviving partners, unless he was the last surviving partner, in which
case his right in the property vests in his legal representative. The surviving
partners have, or the legal representative of the last surviving partner has,
no right to possess the partnership property for any but a partnership purpose.
This division is subject to the procedures set forth in Chapter 1779. of the
Revised Code.
(5) A partner's right in specific partnership property is not subject to dower,
any statutory interest of a surviving spouse, heirs, or next of kin, or any
allowance to a surviving spouse, minor children, or both a surviving spouse and
minor children, including, but not limited to, the allowance for support under
section 2106.13 of the Revised Code.
§ 3334.15. Exemption from execution; use of interest as security or collateral
for loan
(A) The right of a person to a tuition credit or a payment under section
3334.09 of the Revised Code pursuant to a tuition credit contract, a
scholarship program, or a variable college savings program account shall not be
subject to execution, garnishment, attachment, the operation of bankruptcy or
the insolvency laws, or other process of law.
(B) The right of a person to a tuition credit or a payment under section 3334.09
of the Revised Code pursuant to a tuition credit contract, a scholarship
program, or a variable college savings program account shall not be used as
security or collateral for a loan.
Note: Exemptions may have changed since our last update.
» Back to Bankruptcy Laws In Your State