Hawaii State Bankruptcy Exemptions
Hawaii residents can select either the federal bankruptcy exemptions or the
following state law exemptions:
§ 651-92 Real property exempt
(a) Real property shall be exempt from attachment or execution as follows:
(1) An interest in one parcel of real property in the State of Hawaii of a fair
market value not exceeding $30,000 owned by the defendant who is either the
head of a family or an individual sixty-five years of age or older.
(2) An interest in one parcel of real property in the State of Hawaii of a fair
market value not exceeding $20,000 owned by the defendant who is a person.
The fair market value of the interest exempted in paragraphs (1) or (2) shall be
determined by appraisal and shall be an interest which is over and above all
liens and encumbrances on the real property recorded prior to the lien under
which attachment or execution is to be made. Not more than one exemption shall
be claimed on any one parcel of real property even though more than one person
residing on such real property may otherwise be entitled to an exemption.
Any claim of exemption under this section made before May 27, 1976, shall be
deemed to be amended on May 27, 1976, by increasing the exemption to the amount
permitted by this section on May 27, 1976, to the extent that such increase
does not impair or defeat the right of any creditor who has executed upon the
real property prior to May 27, 1976.
(b) No exemption authorized under this section shall apply to process arising
from:
(1) A lien as provided by section 507-42;
(2) A lien or security interest created by a mortgage, security agreement, or
other security instrument;
(3) A tax lien in the name of the federal or state government;
(4) An improvement district lien of any county of the State; or
(5) A lien or encumbrance recorded against the real property prior to the
acquisition of interest in and commencement of residence on such real property.
§ 651-121 Certain personal property and insurance thereon, exempt
The following described personal property of an individual up to the value set
forth shall be exempt from attachment and execution as follows:
(1) All necessary household furnishings and appliances, books and wearing
apparel, ordinarily and reasonably necessary to, and personally used by a
debtor or the debtor's family residing with the debtor; and, in addition
thereto, jewelry, watches, and items of personal adornment up to an aggregate
cash value not exceeding $1,000.
(2) One motor vehicle up to a value of $2,575 over and above all liens and
encumbrances on the motor vehicle; provided that the value of the motor vehicle
shall be measured by established wholesale used car prices customarily found in
guides used by Hawaii motor vehicle dealers; or, if not listed in such guides,
fair wholesale market value, with necessary adjustment for condition.
(3) Any combination of the following: tools, implements, instruments, uniforms,
furnishings, books, equipment, one commercial fishing boat and nets, one motor
vehicle, and other personal property ordinarily and reasonably necessary to and
personally owned and used by the debtor in the exercise of the debtor's trade,
business, calling, or profession by which the debtor earns the debtor's
livelihood.
(4) One parcel of land, not exceeding two hundred fifty square feet in size,
niche or interment space owned, used, or occupied by any person, or by any
person jointly with any other person or persons, in any graveyard, cemetery, or
other place for the sole purpose of burying the dead, together with the railing
or fencing enclosing the same, and all gravestones, tombstones, monuments, and
other appropriate improvements thereon erected.
(5) The proceeds of insurance on, and the proceeds of the sale of, the property
in this section mentioned, for the period of six months from the date the
proceeds are received.
(6) The wages, salaries, commissions, and all other compensation for personal
services due to the debtor for services rendered during the thirty-one days
before the date of the proceeding.
§ 651-124 Pension money exempt
The right of a debtor to a pension, annuity, retirement or disability allowance,
death benefit, any optional benefit, or any other right accrued or accruing
under any retirement plan or arrangement described in section 401(a), 401(k),
403(a), 403(b), 408, 409 (as in effect prior to January 1, 1984), 414(d), or
414(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, or any fund created by
the plan or arrangement, shall be exempt from attachment, execution, seizure,
the operation of bankruptcy or insolvency laws under 11 United States Code
section 522(b), or under any legal process whatever. However, this section
shall not apply to:
(1) A "qualified domestic relations order" as defined in section 206(d) of the
Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974, as amended, or in section 414(p) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended; and
(2) Contributions made to a plan or arrangement within the three years before
the date a debtor files for bankruptcy, whether voluntary or involuntary, or
within three years before the date a civil action is initiated against the
debtor, except for contributions to a retirement plan established by state
statute if the effect would be to eliminate a state employee's retirement
service credit.
§ 652-1 Garnishee process; "garnishee fund"
(a) Before judgment. When any goods or effects of a debtor are in the possession
of an attorney, agent, factor, or trustee (in this chapter jointly and
severally included in the term "garnishee"), or when any debt is due from any
person (also included under the term "garnishee") to a debtor, or when any
person has in the person's possession for safekeeping any moneys of the debtor,
any creditor may bring the creditor's action against the debtor and in the
creditor's petition for process, or by amendments of the complaint at any time
before judgment, after meeting the requirements of section 652-1.5, may request
the court to insert in the process a direction that service of a true and
attested copy thereof be made upon the garnishee in any of the manners
described under section 652-2.5 and to summon the garnishee to appear
personally upon the day or term appointed in the process for hearing the action
or at any other time appointed by the court and then and there on oath to
answer all of the following inquiries, herein inclusively referred to as the
"disclosure":
(1) Whether at the time the copy was served on the garnishee, the garnishee had
any of the goods or effects of the defendant in the garnishee's hands and, if
so, the nature, amount and value thereof;
(2) Whether at the time of service, the garnishee was indebted to the defendant
and, if so, the nature and amount of the debt; or
(3) Whether at the time of service on the garnishee, the garnishee had any
moneys of the defendant in the garnishee's possession for safekeeping and, if
so, the amount thereof.
The summons and direction shall be signed and issued as is usual in other civil
process after proceedings under section 652-1.5. The summons shall specify an
amount or value of money, debt or goods or effects to be garnished which shall
not exceed one hundred twenty per cent of the amount of the plaintiff's claim,
including cost and interest. The summons shall be served upon the garnishee in
any of the manners described under section 652-2.5. From the time of service,
the garnishee shall secure in the garnishee's hands to pay such judgment as the
plaintiff shall recover in the action, such of the following property or choses
then in the garnishee's possession or owing to the defendant as shall equal the
amount or value specified in the summons, except what the court has expressly
found to be exempt from execution pursuant to section 652-1.5(d) or (f):
(1) The goods and effects of the defendant then in the hands of the garnishee;
(2) Any debt then owing from the garnishee to the defendant;
(3) Moneys of the defendant then in the possession of the garnishee for
safekeeping; and
(4) A portion of the defendant's wages, salary, stipend, commissions, annuity,
or net income under a trust (in this chapter included under the term "wages"),
remaining after the deduction of any amounts required by law to be withheld by
withholding the amount to be determined as follows: five per cent of the first
$100 per month, ten per cent of the next $100 per month, and twenty per cent of
all sums in excess of $200 per month, or an equivalent portion of the above
amount per week, whether then or thereafter to become owing.
The property or choses described in (1), (2), (3), and (4) of this paragraph are
included under the term "garnishee fund" (in this chapter). The cumulative
total value of the fund, in advance of final judgment, shall be no more than
the amount specified in the summons.
Except as provided in section 652-1.5, the summons and direction shall be
sufficient notice to the defendant to enable the plaintiff to bring the
plaintiff's action to trial, unless the defendant is an inhabitant of the State
or has some time resided therein, in which case a like copy shall be served
personally upon the defendant or left at the defendant's last and usual place
of abode.
The court shall order the garnishee fund released at the hearing provided in
section 652-1.5 or thereafter upon the filing by the debtor with the court of a
bond or bonds issued by a surety or sureties licensed to do business as such in
the State, in an amount sufficient to pay the claim of the creditor together
with costs and interest, and conditioned upon judgment rendered in favor of the
creditor and to the extent the claim or any portion thereof, together with
costs and interest, if any, is awarded.
(b) After judgment. Wages may be garnisheed after judgment at the rate specified
in subsection (a). In any action brought by a creditor against a debtor, the
creditor may, after judgment rendered in the creditor's favor, request the
court to summon any garnishee to appear personally, upon a day appointed in the
summons for hearing the cause as against the garnishee, and make full
disclosure; or in any action brought in the district court by a creditor
against a debtor, the creditor may, ten days after judgment rendered in the
creditor's favor, file a certified copy of the judgment and the creditor's
affidavit as to the amount due and unpaid on account of the judgment with the
employer of the judgment debtor and the employer shall thereupon either file a
disclosure within one week or shall withhold from the wages of the judgment
debtor the amounts as provided herein and pay the same to the judgment
creditor.
Alias summons shall also be issued and served upon the garnishee in any of the
manners described under section 652-2.5. At the time of service, any and every
element of any garnishee fund then in the hands of the garnishee shall be there
secured to pay the judgment already recovered and may not otherwise be disposed
of by the garnishee.
(c) Return by garnishee. Any garnishee summoned, whether before or after
judgment, may file in the court issuing the summons, on or before the return
day thereof; a return under oath containing a full disclosure. A copy of the
return shall be served on the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney on or
before the return day. The filing of the return shall be deemed prima facie a
compliance with the summons; provided that either party to the action may, upon
written notice served upon the garnishee, require the garnishee to appear and
be examined under oath as to such disclosure or as to the garnishee's liability
as garnishee.
(d) Garnishee fund excessive. At any time after service of summons, the court,
upon the consent of the plaintiff or upon motion of the defendant or of the
garnishee and notice to the plaintiff, shall determine whether the garnishee
fund is excessive in amount in comparison with subsection (a) of this section
or with the judgment rendered and may thereupon release the remainder thereof
from being so secured.
(e) If any party named in the process as garnishee is a corporation, firm, or
person having places of business in more than one judicial circuit or district
in the State, the service of process upon the garnishee upon service in any one
circuit or district shall operate to secure the garnishee fund in each place of
business in the State.
(f) No employer shall be liable to anyone for deductions and payments to
judgment creditors from wages of judgment debtor employees, as herein provided,
when the employer in good faith believes, or has reason to believe, that
service of the certified copy of the judgment and affidavit of the judgment
creditor as provided in (b) herein affects the same.
§ 431:10-231 Exemption of proceeds; accident and health or sickness
The proceeds of all contracts of accident and health or sickness insurance and
of provisions providing benefits on account of the insured's disability which
are supplemental to life insurance or annuity contracts shall be exempt from
all liability for any debt of the insured, and from any debt of the beneficiary
existing at the time the proceeds are made available for the beneficiary's use.
§ 431:10-232 Exemption of proceeds; life, endowment and annuity
(a) All proceeds payable because of the death of the insured and the aggregate
net cash value of any or all life and endowment policies and annuity contracts
payable to a spouse of the insured, or to a child, parent or other person
dependent upon the insured, whether the power to change the beneficiary is
reserved to the insured or not, and whether the insured or the insured's estate
is a contingent beneficiary or not, shall be exempt from execution, attachment,
garnishment, or other process, for the debts or liabilities of the insured
incurred subsequent to May 19, 1939, except as to premiums paid in fraud of
creditors within the period limited by law for the recovery of such payments.
(b) When the terms of any life or endowment policy or annuity contract require
that the proceeds thereof be retained by the insurer upon the death of the
insured, or other maturity of the policy or contract, for payment to any
beneficiary other than the insured in accordance with a settlement plan
selected by the insured, the beneficiary shall have no right or power, nor
shall the beneficiary be permitted by any insurer, to commute, encumber,
assign, or otherwise anticipate the beneficiary's interests under the plan if
the right or power is expressly denied the beneficiary by the terms of the
contract or policy. If the beneficiary under the settlement plan is or was the
spouse of the insured, or a child, parent or other person dependent upon the
insured, the beneficiary's interests thereunder, in any case, shall be exempt
from execution, attachment, garnishment, or other process for the beneficiary's
debts or liabilities incurred after December 31, 1955.
(c) This section does not apply to group life insurance.
§ 431:10-233 Exemption of proceeds; group life
(a) A policy of group life insurance or the proceeds thereof payable to the
individual insured or to the beneficiary thereunder, shall not be liable,
either before or after payment, to be applied to any legal or equitable process
to pay any liability of any person having a right under the policy. The
proceeds of the policy, when not made payable to a named beneficiary or to a
third person pursuant to a facility-of-payment clause, shall not constitute a
part of the estate of the individual insured for the payment of the insured's
debts.
(b) This section shall not apply to group life insurance policies issued under
section 431:10D-203 to the extent that the proceeds are applied to payment of
the obligation for the purpose of which the insurance was so issued.
§ 386-57 Legal status of right to compensation and compensation payments
(a) The right to compensation under this chapter shall not be assignable, and
the right to compensation and compensation payments received shall be exempt
from the reach of creditors.
(b) The right to compensation under this chapter shall have the same status as a
lien or the same priority for the whole thereof with respect to the assets of
the employer as are accorded by law to any unpaid wages for labor.
§ 383-163 No assignment of benefits; waiver
No assignment, pledge, or encumbrance of any right to benefits which are or may
become due or payable under this chapter shall be valid and the right to
benefits shall not be subject to levy, execution, attachment, garnishment, or
any other remedy for the collection of debt. No waiver of this section shall be
valid, except that this section shall not apply to:
(1) Section 383-163.5 with respect to the withholding and deduction of benefits
for the payment of child support obligations;
(2) Section 383-163.6 with respect to the voluntary withholding and deduction
of benefits for payment of federal and state income taxes; and
(3) Section 383-163.7 with respect to the withholding and deduction of benefits
for repayment of uncollected overissuances of food stamp coupons.
§ 346-33 Assistance payments inalienable
Assistance payments and compensation paid by the department of human services to
blind persons and other persons for work performed in their homes or in
workshops shall be inalienable by any assignment, sale, attachment,
garnishment, execution, or otherwise.
§ 353-22 Earnings exempt from garnishment, etc
No moneys earned by a committed person and held by the department, to any amount
whatsoever, shall be subject to garnishment, levy, or any like process of
attachment for any cause or claim against the committed person, except as
provided for in section 353-22.5.
§ 88-169 Payments of pensions; inalienable
If at any time there should not be sufficient money to the credit of the pension
system to pay all claims against it in full, claims on account of the death of
members of the police force, fire department, or band, shall be paid first in
full with as little delay as possible, after which an equal percentage shall be
paid upon all other claims to the full extent of the funds on hand until the
funds be replenished so as to pay them in full. All pensions shall be paid by
the treasurer at the treasurer's office at the same time and in such
installments as the members of the police force, fire department, or band are
paid. All pensions granted and payable out of the pension system shall be
exempt from seizure or levy upon attachment, execution, supplemental process,
and all other process whether mesne or final and shall not be subject to sale,
assignment, or transfer by any beneficiary.
§ 88-91 Exemption from taxation and execution
The right of a person to a pension, an annuity or a retirement allowance, to the
return of contributions, the pension, annuity or retirement allowance itself,
any optional benefit or death benefit, any other right accrued or accruing to
any person under this part and the moneys in the various funds created under
this part are exempted from any tax of the State and, except as in section
88-92 provided, shall not be subject to execution, garnishment or any other
process and shall be unassignable except as in this part specifically provided.
§ 653-3 Exemptions; pensions
No pension to which any person is entitled from the State, or any municipal
subdivision thereof, shall be subject to taxes nor to garnishment, attachment,
or execution upon or in any suit, action, or proceeding at law instituted by
any person or by the State or by any municipal subdivision thereof.
Note: Exemptions may have changed since our last update. For the latest updates on these property exemptions, speak to a local bankruptcy lawyer.
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