Much of Texas culture is family culture. Your home is an important place to your life, livelihood and well-being.
State law recognizes this. As a result, Texas has some of the best protections in the nation for homes during the bankruptcy process.
A question of size
As explained on FindLaw, you will probably look to something called the homestead exemption when you are trying to save your home from Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy. The Texas approach to is this exemption a slightly differently than most other states.
Here, instead of a dollar amount that you could set aside from the assets that you will use to pay your creditors, you have a geographic area that would be safe from debts. The upper limit for that area would be different depending on where you live:
- 10 acres for urban homes
- 200 acres for rural homesteads
A matter of ownership
The law would also recognize your ownership of various other elements of your property. In other words, not only your land and your home would be protected.
In one common example, the improvements you made to your property, such as outbuildings, would probably fall under your exemption. In a somewhat more complex matter, your homestead exemption could also extend to any mineral lease that you have for the minerals beneath your land. Be sure to confirm this before proceeding.
A necessity for detail
Most states operate with a dollar-amount exemption for homesteads. This allows some legal and accounting practices during bankruptcy that do not have direct analogues in the system here. As with any legal procedure, please make sure that you are getting the most relevant information before you make any type of decision about bankruptcy in Texas.