GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2009

H                                                                                                                                                    1

HOUSE BILL 1058*

 

 

Short Title:        Increase Statutory Homestead Exemption.

(Public)

Sponsors:

Representatives Blue, Weiss (Primary Sponsors);  Glazier, Hall, Harrison, Insko, Lucas, Luebke, Mackey, Parmon, Starnes, and Womble.

Referred to:

Judiciary II, if favorable, Finance.

April 6, 2009

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to increase the statutory homestead exemption.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 1C‑1601(a) reads as rewritten:

"(a)       Exempt property. – Each individual, resident of this State, who is a debtor is entitled to retain free of the enforcement of the claims of creditors:

(1)        The debtor's aggregate interest, not to exceed eighteen thousand five hundred dollars ($18,500)three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) in value, in real property or personal property that the debtor or a dependent of the debtor uses as a residence,residence or in a cooperative that owns property that the debtor or a dependent of the debtor uses as a residence, or in a burial plot for the debtor or a dependent of the debtor; however, an unmarried debtor who is 65 years of age or older is entitled to retain an aggregate interest in the property not to exceed thirty‑seven thousand dollars ($37,000) in value so long as the property was previously owned by the debtor as a tenant by the entireties or as a joint tenant with rights of survivorship and the former co‑owner of the property is deceased.residence.

(2)        The debtor's aggregate interest in any property, not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) in value of any unused exemption amount to which the debtor is entitled under subdivision (1) of this subsection.

(3)        The debtor's interest, not to exceed three thousand five hundred dollars ($3,500) in value, in one motor vehicle.

(4)        The debtor's aggregate interest, not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) in value for the debtor plus one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each dependent of the debtor, not to exceed four thousand dollars ($4,000) total for dependents, in household furnishings, household goods, wearing apparel, appliances, books, animals, crops, or musical instruments, that are held primarily for the personal, family, or household use of the debtor or a dependent of the debtor.

(5)        The debtor's aggregate interest, not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000) in value, in any implements, professional books, or tools of the trade of the debtor or the trade of a dependent of the debtor.

(6)        Life insurance as provided in Article X, Section 5 of the Constitution of North Carolina.

(7)        Professionally prescribed health aids for the debtor or a dependent of the debtor.

(8)        Compensation for personal injury, including compensation from private disability policies or annuities, or compensation for the death of a person upon whom the debtor was dependent for support, but such compensation is not exempt from claims for funeral, legal, medical, dental, hospital, and health care charges related to the accident or injury giving rise to the compensation.

(9)        Individual retirement plans as defined in the Internal Revenue Code and any plan treated in the same manner as an individual retirement plan under the Internal Revenue Code, including individual retirement accounts and Roth retirement accounts as described in section 408(a) and section 408A of the Internal Revenue Code, individual retirement annuities as described in section 408(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, and accounts established as part of a trust described in section 408(c) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(10)      Funds in a college savings plan qualified under section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, not to exceed a cumulative limit of twenty‑five thousand dollars ($25,000), but excluding any funds placed in a college savings plan account within the preceding 12 months (except to the extent any of the contributions were made in the ordinary course of the debtor's financial affairs and were consistent with the debtor's past pattern of contributions) and only to the extent that the funds are for a child of the debtor and will actually be used for the child's college or university expenses.

(11)      Retirement benefits under the retirement plans of other states and governmental units of other states, to the extent that these benefits are exempt under the laws of the state or governmental unit under which the benefit plan is established.

(12)      Alimony, support, separate maintenance, and child support payments or funds that have been received or to which the debtor is entitled, to the extent the payments or funds are reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor or any dependent of the debtor.

(13)      The debtor's aggregate interest, not to exceed eighteen thousand five hundred dollars ($18,500) in value, in a burial plot for the debtor or a dependent of the debtor."

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.