New York Bankruptcy Exemptions: Home, Car, and Retirement

If you file bankruptcy in New York, the state’s exemption statutes let you keep your primary home up to a county-based equity limit (as high as $204,825), one vehicle with up to $5,500 in equity, retirement accounts, necessary clothing and household goods, limited jewelry, work tools up to $4,075, and most public benefits. New York bankruptcy exemptions are set by state law: the state has opted out of the federal exemption list in 11 U.S.C. § 522(d), so filers here use a scheme built from the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR), the Insurance Law, and the Debtor and Creditor Law (DCL).¹ You cannot mix the two systems.

The dollar figures below reflect the adjustment that took effect April 1, 2024 and runs through March 31, 2027.²

Home Equity

New York’s homestead exemption shields equity in your principal residence. The protected amount depends on the county where the home sits:²

$204,825 in New York City (all five boroughs), Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, Westchester, and Putnam counties
$170,700 in Dutchess, Albany, Columbia, Orange, Saratoga, and Ulster counties
$102,400 in every other county

Houses, condominiums, co-ops, and mobile homes all qualify, so long as the property is your principal residence.³ Investment properties, vacation homes, and rentals do not. If your equity sits within the limit, the Chapter 7 trustee cannot sell the home to pay unsecured creditors. If it exceeds the limit, the trustee can sell, but must return the exempt amount to you from the proceeds.

Spouses who file jointly can each claim the homestead, which effectively doubles the protection when both are on the deed. In New York City that comes to $409,650 of combined equity.

A federal cap overrides state law for recently purchased homes. If you acquired the residence within the 1,215 days (roughly three years and four months) before filing, the homestead is limited to $214,000 regardless of what New York would otherwise allow.⁴

Your Car

You can protect up to $5,500 of equity in one motor vehicle. If the vehicle is equipped for use by a person with a disability, the limit is $13,625.² Equity is the car’s fair market value minus the loan balance. A $12,000 car with $8,000 still owed has $4,000 in equity and falls within the exemption.

If equity exceeds the limit, a Chapter 7 trustee can sell the car, pay off the lender, hand you the exempt share, and distribute what remains to creditors. Trustees often pass on vehicles with only modest non-exempt equity because the sale costs eat into the recovery.

The vehicle exemption does not apply when the debt being collected is for child support, spousal support, or a judgment held by a New York state or municipal agency.⁵

Household Goods, Clothing, and Jewelry

New York protects necessary clothing for you and your family without a stated dollar cap.⁵ “Necessary” is the operative word. A reasonable work and daily wardrobe is safe; a fur coat collection would draw scrutiny.

Household goods are protected by category rather than by a dollar amount. The statute exempts household furniture, one refrigerator, one television, one computer with related equipment, one cellphone, tableware, and cooking utensils necessary for your household. Prescribed health aids are fully exempt. A second television or a high-end home theater system is not on the list and could be treated as non-exempt.

A wedding ring is exempt with no dollar limit. Watches, jewelry, and art together are protected up to a combined $1,325.² Engagement rings are not listed alongside wedding rings, so an expensive engagement ring counts toward the jewelry cap.

Work Tools

Tools, instruments, and equipment necessary for your current occupation are exempt up to $4,075. The statute covers mechanics’ tools, farm machinery, professional instruments, and work-related books and furniture.⁵ The equipment has to be necessary for the trade you actually work in, not one you hope to enter. For many tradespeople the limit is tight; a contractor’s table saw and compressor alone can exceed it. What matters is your equity in the tools, not their sticker price, because a lender’s security interest takes priority.

Retirement Accounts

Retirement savings get the strongest protection in bankruptcy. Employer-sponsored plans such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and traditional pensions are shielded by ERISA’s anti-alienation rule, which prevents plan benefits from being assigned to creditors.⁶ There is no dollar cap. The entire balance stays out of the bankruptcy estate.

IRAs (both traditional and Roth) are protected up to a combined $1,711,975 across all your IRA accounts. That cap took effect April 1, 2025 and runs through March 31, 2028.⁴ Funds rolled over from an employer plan into an IRA generally keep the unlimited protection of the original plan rather than counting against the IRA cap.

New York public employee pensions have their own layer of protection. Pension benefits, annuities, retirement allowances, and return-of-contribution rights are exempt from execution, garnishment, and attachment.⁷

Life Insurance and Public Benefits

Life insurance proceeds and cash values get broad protection under Insurance Law § 3212, though the protection turns on how the policy is structured rather than on a dollar amount. If the policy names a third-party beneficiary, the proceeds (including death benefits, cash surrender value, loan values, and dividends) are exempt from the creditors of the person who took out the policy.⁸ A policy structured solely for the debtor’s own benefit, with no third-party beneficiary, does not get the same shelter.

Public benefits are fully exempt regardless of amount. Social Security, unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation, veterans’ benefits, public assistance, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and child support you receive are all protected.¹ One practical trap: once you deposit exempt funds into an account that also holds non-exempt money, proving which dollars are protected becomes difficult. A separate account for exempt income keeps the trace clean.

Cash and the Wildcard for Renters

New York’s wildcard exemption is available only if you do not claim the homestead. Under CPLR § 5205(a)(9), you can protect up to $1,325 in personal property, bank deposits, or cash when you forgo the homestead.²

DCL § 283 adds a second layer for renters and others who do not take the homestead. If you have used your CPLR § 5205(a) personal property exemptions and still have room under the aggregate cap, you can exempt additional cash equal to the difference, up to a $5,000 base figure.⁹ For this purpose, “cash” includes U.S. currency, savings bonds at face value, income tax refunds, and bank deposits.

The Overall Cap on Personal Property

Even if each item falls within its own limit, the combined value of all personal property you exempt under CPLR § 5205(a) cannot exceed $10,000 (a base figure that is periodically adjusted for inflation).⁹ This aggregate cap applies only in bankruptcy, and it forces real choices when your car equity, tools, and household items added together push against the ceiling. Prioritizing which assets to protect is one of the most consequential decisions in a New York case.

Residency Rules

You need to have lived in New York for at least 91 days to file bankruptcy here. To actually use New York’s exemption list rather than those of the state you came from, you generally must have been domiciled in New York for 730 days (two full years) before filing. People who moved more recently may be stuck using their former state’s exemptions, or in some circumstances the federal § 522(d) list.

Claiming Each Exemption on Schedule C

Every asset you want to protect has to be listed specifically on Schedule C of your bankruptcy petition. Leave something off, and it is not exempt, even if it would have qualified.¹⁰ Cases fall apart here most often when filers assume a car or bank account is automatically protected.

Back up each claim with documents. A vehicle exemption needs a current valuation (Kelley Blue Book or NADA) and a lender payoff statement so the trustee can verify equity. Retirement account exemptions need recent statements showing the funds sit in qualifying plans. Real property should have a recent appraisal or comparative market analysis. The trustee can object to any exemption, and the bankruptcy judge rules on disputes based on the evidence in front of them. Dollar figures are adjusted every three years, so confirm the amounts in effect on your filing date; the current period runs through March 31, 2027, with the next update scheduled for April 1, 2027.²

1
New York State Senate. New York Debtor and Creditor Law 282 – Permissible Exemptions in Bankruptcy
2
Department of Financial Services. Amount Exempt from Judgments
3
New York State Senate. New York Code 5206 – Real Property Exempt From Application to the Satisfaction of Money Judgments
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 522 – Exemptions
5
New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules 5205 – Personal Property Exempt From Application to the Satisfaction of Money Judgments
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 1056 – Form and Payment of Benefits
7
New York State Senate. New York Retirement and Social Security Law Section 110 – Exemption From Taxes and Legal Process
8
New York State Senate. New York Insurance Law 3212 – Exemption of Proceeds and Avails of Certain Insurance and Annuity Contracts
9
New York State Senate. New York Debtor and Creditor Law 283 – Aggregate Individual Bankruptcy Exemption for Certain Annuities and Personal Property
10
United States Bankruptcy Court Eastern District of New York. A Guide To Schedule C and Exemptions