If you are struggling to pay medical bills, credit card balances, student loans or any other debt, you are probably not living the life you want. After all, excessive debt can lead to both anxiety and depression. Thankfully, your dog helps to keep your anxiety and depression under control.
Filing for bankruptcy protection may help you put your financial affairs in order and build a brighter future. While you may have to part with some assets during bankruptcy, you can probably keep your dog.
Listing your assets
During bankruptcy, you typically have to disclose every asset you own. Despite being a living creature, your dog is an asset. Consequently, you must tell the bankruptcy trustee about the animal and estimate its value.
Keeping your dog
The bankruptcy trustee may seek to sell some of your assets to satisfy your outstanding debts. Unless your dog is a pedigreed show animal, it probably does not have much value to the bankruptcy trustee. That is, the cost of taking, sheltering and feeding your dog is likely significantly more than your pooch would bring on the open market.
Using an exemption
While it is unlikely the bankruptcy trustee wants anything to do with your dog, you have an additional failsafe. Specifically, if the trustee seeks to sell the animal, you may be able to use a bankruptcy exemption to keep your pup.
Even though there are many myths about the bankruptcy process, you should not believe you have to part with everything you own. Ultimately, you can probably plan to have your dog with you after the bankruptcy process concludes.
