Sec. 42.001. PERSONAL PROPERTY EXEMPTION. (a) Personal property, as described in Section 42.002, is exempt from garnishment, attachment, execution, or other seizure if:
(1) the property is provided for a family and has an aggregate fair market value of not more than $100,000, exclusive of the amount of any liens, security interests, or other charges encumbering the property; or
(2) the property is owned by a single adult, who is not a member of a family, and has an aggregate fair market value of not more than $50,000, exclusive of the amount of any liens, security interests, or other charges encumbering the property.
(b) The following personal property is exempt from seizure and is not included in the aggregate limitations prescribed by Subsection (a):
(1) current wages for personal services, except for the enforcement of court-ordered child support payments;
(2) professionally prescribed health aids of a debtor or a dependent of a debtor;
(3) alimony, support, or separate maintenance received or to be received by the debtor for the support of the debtor or a dependent of the debtor; and
(4) a religious bible or other book containing sacred writings of a religion that is seized by a creditor other than a lessor of real property who is exercising the lessor's contractual or statutory right to seize personal property after a tenant breaches a lease agreement for or abandons the real property.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (b)(4), this section does not prevent seizure by a secured creditor with a contractual landlord's lien or other security in the property to be seized.
(d) Unpaid commissions for personal services not to exceed 25 percent of the aggregate limitations prescribed by Subsection (a) are exempt from seizure and are included in the aggregate.
(e) A religious bible or other book described by Subsection (b)(4) that is seized by a lessor of real property in the exercise of the lessor's contractual or statutory right to seize personal property after a tenant breaches a lease agreement for the real property or abandons the real property may not be included in the aggregate limitations prescribed by Subsection (a).
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3522, ch. 576, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984. Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 175, Sec. 1, eff. May 24, 1991; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1046, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 444 (H.B. 167), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 793 (H.B. 2706), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2015.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
95
cases (
10 in the last 5 years), 1984–2025 · leading case:
Roosth v. Roosth, 889 S.W.2d 445 (Tex. App. 1994).
Roosth v. Roosth, 889 S.W.2d 445 (Tex. App. 1994).
· cites it 3× “Appellant contends that the cash surrender value of life insurance policies is exempt as a matter of law under Tex.Ins.”
In Re Leva, 96 B.R. 723 (Bankr. W.D. Tex. 1989).
· cites it 6× “King and to her teenage son, a son which lived with them for almost the entire four-year period. He considered the boy to be his stepson.”
Bart Dalton v. Carol Dalton, 551 S.W.3d 126 (Tex. 2018).
“XVI, § 28 ; TEX. PROP. CODE § 42.001(b)(1). But income withholding is expressly available as a mechanism to enforce child support and spousal maintenance obligations.”
Ca Partners v. Spears, 274 S.W.3d 51 (Tex. App. 2008).
“See Tex Prop. Code §§ 42.001 & 42.002. In Finding of Fact 20, the trial court found that any lien on Spears’s personal property would have been void under sections 42.”
McLain v. Newhouse Ex Rel. Bankr. Est. of McLain, 516 F.3d 301 (5th Cir. 2008).
“Finally, McLain argues that even if his wife received a pre-petition paycheck, it would have been considered exempted property under Tex. Prop.Code § 42.001(b)(1). However, as the district court correctly noted, the McLains never claimed any exemptions.”
In Re Peters, 91 B.R. 401 (Bankr. W.D. Tex. 1988).
· cites it 2× ““Tex.Prop.Code Ann. § 42.001 ... represents a codification of pre-existing property law which was emphatically intended not to effect substantive changes in the law.”
Ann BASLEY, Laura Hale, Lindell L. Hale, & Vickie Hale Whitt, Appellants, v. ADONI HOLDINGS, LLC, & Dodeka, LLC, Appellees, 373 S.W.3d 577 (Tex. App. 2012).
“See Tex. Prop. Code Ann. § 42.001 (West Supp.”
In Re Swift, 124 B.R. 475 (Bankr. W.D. Tex. 1991).
· cites it 2× “Tex.Prop.Code, § 42.001. The standard for valuing the Rolex watch is its fair market value and not its liquidation value.”
In Re Salazar, 449 B.R. 890 (Bankr. N.D. Tex. 2011).
· cites it 2× “The federal exemptions are set forth at § 522(d) of the Bankruptcy Code, which provides that, with respect to several of the allowed exemptions, the debtor may exempt an interest, not to exceed a stated amount, in the described property.”
— Tex. Prop. Code § 42.001(a) — 24 cases
In Re Leva, 96 B.R. 723 (Bankr. W.D. Tex. 1989).
“King and to her teenage son, a son which lived with them for almost the entire four-year period. He considered the boy to be his stepson.”
— Tex. Prop. Code § 42.001(a)(1) — 8 cases
— Tex. Prop. Code § 42.001(a)(2) — 1 case
— Tex. Prop. Code § 42.001(a)(3) — 1 case
— Tex. Prop. Code § 42.001(b) — 4 cases
In Re Leva, 96 B.R. 723 (Bankr. W.D. Tex. 1989).
“King and to her teenage son, a son which lived with them for almost the entire four-year period. He considered the boy to be his stepson.”
— Tex. Prop. Code § 42.001(b)(1) — 17 cases
Bart Dalton v. Carol Dalton, 551 S.W.3d 126 (Tex. 2018).
“XVI, § 28 ; TEX. PROP. CODE § 42.001(b)(1). But income withholding is expressly available as a mechanism to enforce child support and spousal maintenance obligations.”
McLain v. Newhouse Ex Rel. Bankr. Est. of McLain, 516 F.3d 301 (5th Cir. 2008).
“Finally, McLain argues that even if his wife received a pre-petition paycheck, it would have been considered exempted property under Tex. Prop.Code § 42.001(b)(1). However, as the district court correctly noted, the McLains never claimed any exemptions.”
— Tex. Prop. Code § 42.001(c) — 1 case
— Tex. Prop. Code § 42.001(d) — 4 cases
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