Chapter 7 EXEMPTION LAWS.

Before starting a suit to collect money due you, carefully read up on the exemption laws of your State. After carefully considering the matter you will find that a judgment, if obtained, will avail you nothing, should the debtor elect to take advantage of the exemption allowed him by law.

Some States are very liberal in the amount of property a man may hold which is exempt from execution on a judgment for indebtedness. Take for instance, the State of North Dakota, where the head of a family may hold a homestead and personal property to the value of $6,450, and in case the head of the family should die, and was insured, the widow and children could hold an additional $5,000 of life insurance money, making a total exemption of $11,450.

Delaware is the only State that has made a special provision for physicians in any manner. Here the statutes provide that a physician's bill shall be a preferred claim for services in the last illness of the patient.

In nearly all States the exemption runs to the widow and minor children. This is so general a rule that I have not included that part of the statutes covering this phase of the law. There is no exemption against money due on mortgages, for the purchase price of property, for manual labor or taxes. Tennessee also provides that there shall be no exemption on fines for failure to work the roads, for voting out of the district the voter lives in, for carrying concealed weapons, or for giving away or selling intoxicating liquors on election day.

Rhode Island exempts wages due or accruing to seamen.

Pennsylvania does not exempt the homestead, and personal property to the value of three hundred dollars only is exempt. The chances to collect a bill in Pennsylvania are better than in any other State, so far as the exemption laws are concerned.

Oregon exempts one gun or revolver to each white citizen over sixteen years of age, in addition to the other exemptions.

Public buildings owned by the State or municipality are always exempt. Other buildings are not exempt against liens for material or labor used in their construction.

The exempt property may be selected by the debtor, or on his failure to make such selection, some States permit the wife to make the selection, but in case no selection is made, the proper officer will make the selection for them.

The exemption of estates generally runs until the youngest child is of age. Judgments usually expire in twenty years or less if not renewed. Hence you will see that the attorney's fees that you will have to pay to secure judgment will generally be worth more to you than the judgment, if you have to wait so many years to satisfy it.

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