Enforcement of judgments: exemptions.

Existing law identifies various types of property of a judgment debtor that are exempt from the enforcement of a money judgment. Existing law provides that property described in statute as exempt may be claimed within the time and in the manner prescribed in the applicable enforcement procedure, and property described in statute as exempt without making a claim is not subject to any procedure for enforcement of a money judgment. These general exemptions are available to a debtor in a federal bankruptcy case, whether a money judgment is being enforced by execution sale or other procedure, unless the debtor elects certain alternative exemptions that are applicable only in the bankruptcy case. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to, every 3 years, adjust the amount of the exemptions applicable to exempt property based on the change in the annual California Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. Existing law, the Golden State Scholarshare Trust Act, establishes the Golden State Scholarshare College Savings Trust for the purpose of administering funds contributed by participants as a means of paying for postsecondary education costs. This bill would increase the statutory amounts of various exemptions to reflect the amounts of the exemptions as adjusted by the Judicial Council effective April 1, 2019. The bill would provide that money held in an account owned by the judgment debtor and established pursuant to the Golden State Scholarshare Trust Act is exempt for the purposes described above, subject to specified limits.