Bankruptcy exemptions in West Virginia: what you can keep

Every West Virginia exemption with its amount and law, plus the federal rules that limit them.

Checked against official sources: October 25, 2026.

Short answer

In West Virginia you choose state or federal exemptions (exemptions are the property the law lets you keep). Your home (homestead): up to $35,000 in real or personal property that you or a dependent uses as a residence, or in a burial plot for you or a dependent.

Exemption system: State or federal, your choice
Car or other vehicle: Up to $7,500 in one motor vehicle.
Wildcard (any property): $800 in any property, plus any unused part of the $35,000 homestead exemption.
Amounts: Amounts set by 2023 Enrolled Committee Substitute for H.B. 2221 (passed March 9, 2023; in effect 90 days from passage), applying to bankruptcies filed on or after that effective date; current text read on code.wvlegislature.gov.

What West Virginia lets you keep

Exemptions are the property the law lets you keep. You pick one whole set: the West Virginia list or the federal list. You can't mix them.

Law: W. Va. Code 38-10-4(k); 11 U.S.C. 522(b)(1)-(2); 11 U.S.C. 522(d)

What	West Virginia exemption	Federal exemption
Home (homestead)	Up to $35,000 in real or personal property that you or a dependent uses as a residence (including a mobile home or a co-op), or in a burial plot for you or a dependent. Unused homestead amount can be added to the $800 wildcard. A special higher limit (up to $250,000 per household) applies only to certain licensed physicians with malpractice insurance whose bankruptcy is partly due to a malpractice verdict. Law: W. Va. Code 38-10-4(a), (e)	$31,575 Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(d)(1)
Car or other vehicle	Up to $7,500 in one motor vehicle. Law: W. Va. Code 38-10-4(b)	$5,025 Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(d)(2)
Household goods and clothing	Household furnishings, household goods, clothing, appliances, books, animals, crops and musical instruments: up to $800 per item and $16,000 total. Jewelry up to $2,000. Professionally prescribed health aids are fully exempt. Law: W. Va. Code 38-10-4(c), (d), (h)	Household goods: $800 per item, $16,850 total Jewelry for personal or family use: $2,125 Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(d)(3); 11 U.S.C. 522(d)(4)
Wildcard (any property)	$800 in any property, plus any unused part of the $35,000 homestead exemption. Law: W. Va. Code 38-10-4(e)	$1,675 plus up to $15,800 of any unused part of the (d)(1) homestead amount Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(d)(5)
Tools of your trade	Up to $3,000 in implements, professional books or tools of your trade or a dependent's trade. Law: W. Va. Code 38-10-4(f)	$3,175 Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(d)(6)
Wages	There is no separate wage exemption in the bankruptcy statute. Outside bankruptcy, a wage garnishment (suggestee execution) can be issued only if your weekly take-home pay is more than 50 times the federal minimum hourly wage, and it can take at most 20% of your wages. Law: W. Va. Code 38-5A-3	—
Retirement accounts	Pension, annuity, profit-sharing and similar plan payments are exempt to the extent reasonably necessary for your support, and IRA and SEP funds are exempt regardless of amount, with limits for plans set up by an insider employer, non-qualified plans, and excess contributions. Law: W. Va. Code 38-10-4(i)(5)	No dollar limit (IRAs are capped under 522(n)) Money in traditional and Roth IRAs is protected up to $1,711,975 in total. Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(d)(12); 11 U.S.C. 522(n); 90 FR 8941
Public benefits	Your right to receive Social Security, unemployment compensation, local public assistance, veterans' benefits, and disability or illness benefits is exempt. Workers' compensation is exempt from creditors (except attorney fees and child or spousal support). Law: W. Va. Code 38-10-4(i)(1)-(3); W. Va. Code 23-4-18	Your right to receive Social Security, unemployment, public assistance, veterans' and disability benefits; alimony and support you reasonably need; and certain pension or annuity payments you reasonably need: No dollar limit (some only as much as you reasonably need) Your right to certain payments: crime victim awards, wrongful-death and life-insurance payments for someone you depended on, personal bodily injury payments (not pain and suffering or actual money losses), and payments for lost future earnings: Crime-victim awards: no limit. Personal injury payment: up to $31,575. Others: as much as you reasonably need Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(d)(10); 11 U.S.C. 522(d)(11)
Other exemptions	Alimony and support you receive are exempt to the extent reasonably necessary for your support. All life insurance proceeds paid to you as a beneficiary, and life insurance policies and annuities you own payable to someone else (including cash surrender value), are exempt; any unmatured life insurance policy you own is exempt. Personal-injury payments up to $50,000 (not counting pain and suffering or actual losses), crime-victim awards, and wrongful-death and lost-earnings payments to the extent needed for support. Money in West Virginia's prepaid tuition and SMART529 college savings plans, with earnings. Law: W. Va. Code 38-10-4(i)(4); W. Va. Code 38-10-4(g), (j)(3); W. Va. Code 38-10-4(j)(1), (2), (4), (5); W. Va. Code 38-10-4(j)(6)	An unmatured life insurance policy you own (not credit life insurance): No dollar limit Cash value of life insurance: $16,850 Health aids prescribed by a professional for you or a dependent: No dollar limit Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(d)(7); 11 U.S.C. 522(d)(8); 11 U.S.C. 522(d)(9)

Amounts: Amounts set by 2023 Enrolled Committee Substitute for H.B. 2221 (passed March 9, 2023; in effect 90 days from passage), applying to bankruptcies filed on or after that effective date; current text read on code.wvlegislature.gov. Not indexed for inflation.

Federal amounts: Amounts in effect for cases filed on or after April 1, 2025 (next automatic adjustment due April 1, 2028)

Law: 11 U.S.C. 104; 90 FR 8941-8942

These amounts are per person. If a married couple files one joint case, each spouse can claim the federal exemptions separately.

The West Virginia homestead exemption

Up to $35,000 in real or personal property that you or a dependent uses as a residence (including a mobile home or a co-op), or in a burial plot for you or a dependent.

Unused homestead amount can be added to the $800 wildcard. A special higher limit (up to $250,000 per household) applies only to certain licensed physicians with malpractice insurance whose bankruptcy is partly due to a malpractice verdict.

Law: W. Va. Code 38-10-4(a), (e)

Retirement accounts

Pension, annuity, profit-sharing and similar plan payments are exempt to the extent reasonably necessary for your support, and IRA and SEP funds are exempt regardless of amount, with limits for plans set up by an insider employer, non-qualified plans, and excess contributions.

Law: W. Va. Code 38-10-4(i)(5)

Retirement money in tax-exempt accounts is protected whichever set of exemptions you use (IRAs subject to the 522(n) cap).

Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(b)(3)(C), 522(d)(12), 522(n)

If you moved in the last 2 years

You use the exemption law of the state where you lived (your domicile) for the full 730 days (2 years) before you filed. If you moved between states during those 2 years, you use the law of the state where you lived for the 180 days before that 2-year period, or where you lived the longest part of those 180 days.

Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(b)(3)(A)

If this rule leaves you with no exemptions at all (for example, the state's exemptions apply only to its residents and you no longer live there), you can use the federal exemptions instead.

Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(b)(3), flush language

Choosing a set in West Virginia

In some states you can choose either the state exemptions or the federal exemptions. You must pick one whole set; you cannot mix them. Other states allow only the state exemptions. A married couple filing together must both pick the same set.

Law: 11 U.S.C. 522(b)(1)-(2); W. Va. Code 38-10-4(k); 11 U.S.C. 522(d)

In nearby states

Virginia: State exemptions only. Home (homestead): up to $50,000 in real or personal property used as the principal residence of you or your dependents.
Ohio: State exemptions only. Home (homestead): $182,625 in equity in one parcel or item of real or personal property that you or a dependent use as a residence (a house, condo or mobile home).
District of Columbia: State or federal, your choice. Home (homestead): unlimited: your whole interest in real property you use as your residence, or in a cooperative that owns property you or a dependent use as a residence.
Maryland: State exemptions only. Home (homestead): your equity in the owner-occupied home you live in, up to the same dollar amount as the federal homestead exemption in 11 U.S.C. 522(d)(1), as adjusted.

Your next steps in West Virginia

Write down your property
Write down your home, car, bank accounts, household goods and other property, with a value for each. The form for this is Official Form 106A/B.
Check the exemption list
Use the West Virginia table above to see which exemption covers each item and how much.
List the exemptions you claim
Exemptions are claimed on Official Form 106C.
Get help
Ask for free help: Legal Aid of West Virginia (free civil legal help for people who qualify).

Free help in West Virginia

Questions about exemptions in West Virginia

State or federal exemptions in West Virginia?

You can. West Virginia lets you choose the state exemptions or the federal exemptions in 11 U.S.C. 522(d). You must pick one whole set.

Can I keep my house in bankruptcy in West Virginia?

Up to $35,000 in real or personal property that you or a dependent uses as a residence (including a mobile home or a co-op), or in a burial plot for you or a dependent.

What is the vehicle exemption in West Virginia?

Up to $7,500 in one motor vehicle.

Is there a wildcard in West Virginia?

$800 in any property, plus any unused part of the $35,000 homestead exemption.

What household goods can I keep in West Virginia?

Household furnishings, household goods, clothing, appliances, books, animals, crops and musical instruments: up to $800 per item and $16,000 total. Jewelry up to $2,000. Professionally prescribed health aids are fully exempt.

What happens to retirement money in West Virginia?

How much of my pay is exempt in West Virginia?

There is no separate wage exemption in the bankruptcy statute. Outside bankruptcy, a wage garnishment (suggestee execution) can be issued only if your weekly take-home pay is more than 50 times the federal minimum hourly wage, and it can take at most 20% of your wages.