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by ethanwillis 2291 days ago
Not if he bought a mansion in Florida early on.
2 comments

Soon be underwater on that too :/
That's an asset, right? So it would be part of the $50-100M
Primary residence in Florida is shielded from bankruptcy and creditors. Also retirement accounts (both IRAs and 401ks). Lease your expensive ride and you’re mostly judgement proof.
Can you shield additional liquid assets by installing solid gold toilets in your Florida mansion?
Probably, it is not uncommon for people to dump large sums of money into renovations to their property before a bankruptcy.

Although I would imagine if it was very egregious, like $1m toilets when essentially no one else has anything reasonably close to that, that a judge would probably strike that down and require you to liquidate it.

Now I'm wondering if people retire in Florida to avoid retirement accounts and residences from being reclaimed during bankruptcy. Sounds like a great recipe for scam artists, TBH.
People retire in Florida because it's warm and there's no state income tax to double dip on your investment or other income. Great creditor protections is a second order effect.
What happens if you sell it, say, a year after filing for bankruptcy? Can you keep the cash?
No. There is some nuance, but the proceeds must be used in a reasonable amount of time to purchase another protected primary residence.

http://www.gibblaw.com/are-the-proceeds-from-sale-of-homeste...