PUERTO RICO

Has state opted out of federal bankruptcy exemptions? No.

Is opt out limited to residents or domiciliaries of the state? Not applicable.

Do state’s exemptions have extraterritorial application?

Homestead: Uncertain.

Personal property: Uncertain.

Wages: P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 1130.

Scope: Earnings for personal services within 30 days before levy of execution. P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 1130(7).

Amount: 75% exempt if debtor can show earnings are necessary for use of family supported wholly or in part by debtor’s labor. P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 1130(7).

Survival after payment/deposit: Not specified in exemption statute.

Waiver: Not specified in exemption statute.

Homestead: P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, §§ 1858 through 1858k.

Amount: A parcel and the structure thereon, or a condo, which debtor lawfully owns, and is occupied by debtor or debtor’s family exclusively as a principal residence. Subject to certain mortgages and debts. P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, §§ 1858.

Procedural requirements: Individual who acquires homestead should set forth this fact in the deed, or individual who already owns land may file homestead. Failure to do so does not destroy exemption, provided exemption is timely claimed after notice of foreclosure or attachment. P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, §§ 1858f through 1858i.

Special provisions: If home owner dies or deserts family, exemption continues to protect spouse, minor children, and certain other dependents. Leasing of the home during temporary absence resulting from work, study, military service, or illness of debtor or certain family members does not eliminate the exemption unless beneficiary obtains another principal residence. P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, § 1858d. Sales proceeds protected for nine months, if invested in another Puerto Rico homestead. P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, §§ 1858c and 1858e.

Waiver: Forbidden (except in mortgages and certain sharecropping contracts). P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, § 1858a.

Tangible personal property: P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 1130.

Household goods: $100 in chairs, tables, desks, and books (P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 1130.1); necessary household furniture including one sewing machine; $200 in a stove, furniture, beds, bedding; provisions sufficient for one month (P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 1130(2)); iceboxes; $200 in a washing machine, $100 in a radio, $250 in a television and an electric iron. P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 1130(14).

Motor vehicles: One motor vehicle used in debtor’s occupation (except for purchase money and repair debts for the vehicle). Exemption is capped at $6000 for liability for injury to third person by the motor vehicle. P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 1130(4)(a).

Tools of trade: $300 tools of trade. Various farm animals and their equipment and feed for one month; a water right not to exceed the amount used for land the debtor actually cultivates; $200 in seeds to be planted or sowed within six months; certain mining equipment, aggregate $500. P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, §§ 1130(3) through 1130(6).

Clothing and jewelry: All clothing. P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 1130(2).

Miscellaneous and wildcard: Artwork done by the debtor, family portraits, and their necessary frames (P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 1130(2)); $500 in shares of a homestead association if the debtor has no homestead (P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 1130(8)); uniforms the debtor is required to keep and one gun. P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 1130(10).

Waiver: Not specified in exemption statute.

Benefits, retirement plans, insurance, judgments, and other intangibles: P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 1130.

Public benefits: Not specified in exemption statute.

Pensions, retirement plans, and annuities: Not specified in exemption statute.

Insurance, judgments, or other compensation for injury: Certain life insurance. P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 32, § 1130(9).

Bank accounts: Not specified in exemption statute.

Alimony, child support: Not specified in exemption statute.

Tax refunds: Not specified in exemption statute.

Survival after payment or deposit: Not specified in exemption statute.