Tennessee Bankruptcy Laws

Standard federal filing fees. Tennessee has three federal bankruptcy court districts: Eastern (Knoxville, Chattanooga), Middle (Nashville), and Western (Memphis, Jackson).

Pre-filing credit counseling and pre-discharge debtor education are required (federal requirements).

Tennessee's homestead exemption is just $5,000 per individual. Joint filers (married couple) can each claim $7,500 (total $15,000). This is one of the lowest homestead exemptions in the nation. The exemption applies to real property used as a principal residence.

Tennessee provides a $10,000 wildcard exemption that can be applied to any property, including equity in a home beyond the homestead exemption. This is one of the more generous wildcard exemptions nationally and partially offsets the low homestead.

Key exemptions include: tools of the trade up to $1,900, one motor vehicle (no equity cap specified — covered by wildcard), wearing apparel and school books, family pictures and portraits, the family Bible, and health aids prescribed by a physician.

Tax-qualified retirement accounts (401(k), IRA, pension plans) are fully exempt from creditor claims with no dollar limit. This is Tennessee's strongest asset protection for most debtors.

Tennessee has opted out of the federal bankruptcy exemption scheme. Debtors must use Tennessee state exemptions, which are generally less favorable than the federal alternative for homeowners.

The greater of 75% of disposable weekly earnings or 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage is exempt from wage garnishment. Tennessee follows the federal garnishment limit formula.