2006 Code of Virginia § 34-17 - When exemption may be set apart; garnished wages

34-17. When exemption may be set apart; garnished wages.

A. The real or personal estate which a householder is entitled to hold asexempt may be set apart at any time before it is subjected by sale undercreditor process, or, if such creditor process does not require sale of theproperty, before it is turned over to the creditor. To claim an exemption inbankruptcy, a householder who (i) files a voluntary petition in bankruptcy or(ii) against whom an involuntary petition in bankruptcy is filed shall setsuch real or personal property apart on or before the fifth day after thedate of the meeting held pursuant to 11 U.S.C. 341, but not thereafter. Ahouseholder who converts a case from Chapters 11, 12, or 13 to Chapter 7shall set such real or personal property apart on or before the fifth dayafter the date of the meeting held pursuant to 11 U.S.C. 341 in the Chapter7 case, but not thereafter. Nothing in this section shall affect the right ofthe trustee in bankruptcy, with the approval of the court, to proceedimmediately with the sale or other disposition of personal property which thetrustee determines to be perishable or particularly susceptible to pricedeterioration.

B. A claim of homestead exemption to protect garnished wages may be filed bythe debtor after the garnishment summons is served on the employer but priorto or upon the return date of the garnishment summons and shall be consideredby the garnishing court.

(Code 1919, 6543; 1944, p. 489; 1974, c. 272; 1981, c. 580; 1985, c. 521;1990, c. 942; 2003, c. 1000; 2005, c. 367.)