Every householder shall be entitled, in addition to the property or estate exempt under §§ 23.1-707, 34-26, 34-27, 34-29, and 64.2-311, to hold exempt from creditor process arising out of a debt, real and personal property, or either, to be selected by the householder, including money and debts due the householder not exceeding $5,000 in value or, if the householder is 65 years of age or older, not exceeding $10,000 in value, and, in addition, real or personal property used as the principal residence of the householder or the householder's dependents not exceeding $50,000 in value. In addition, upon a showing that a householder supports dependents, the householder shall be entitled to hold exempt from creditor process real and personal property, or either, selected by the householder, including money or monetary obligations or liabilities due the householder, not exceeding $500 in value for each dependent.
For the purposes of this section, "dependent" means an individual who derives support primarily from the householder and who does not have assets sufficient to support himself, but in no case shall an individual be the dependent of more than one householder.
On April 1, 2027, and at each three-year interval ending on April 1 thereafter, each monetary limit in effect under this section immediately before such April 1 shall be adjusted to reflect the change in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U), as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, for the most recent three-year period ending immediately before January 1 preceding such April 1, and rounded to the nearest $25, the dollar amount that represents such change. Adjustments made in this section shall not apply with respect to bankruptcy cases commenced before April 1, 2027.
Code 1919, § 6531; 1918, p. 487; 1975, c. 466; 1977, c. 496; 1978, c. 231; 1990, c. 942; 1997, cc. 785, 861; 2009, c. 387; 2020, c. 328; 2024, c. 656.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
173
cases (
3 in the last 5 years), 1952–2025 · leading case:
In re Cantu, 553 B.R. 565 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2016).
In re Cantu, 553 B.R. 565 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2016).
· cites it 28× “00 as exempt pursuant to Va. Code § 34-4, Virginia’s wildcard exemption statute.”
United States v. Copley, 591 B.R. 263 (E.D. Va. 2018).
· cites it 41× “" Va. Code § 34-4. 2. The Debtors' $3,208.00 Tax Overpayment Became Part of the Bankruptcy Estate On May 29, 2014 Before deciding whether the Debtors properly exempted property from the bankruptcy estate under § 522 or the IRS properly performed an offset against property in the…”
In Re Stoney, 445 B.R. 543 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2011).
· cites it 28× “Va.Code Ann. § 34-4 (2010). The exemptions created by Virginia Code § 34-4 for real estate require compliance with Virginia Code § 34-6 for a debtor to claim the benefit of these exemptions validly.”
In Re Smith, 45 B.R. 100 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 1984).
· cites it 18× “1 Thus, in Virginia, a debtor may only exempt that property which is allowable under the Virginia exemption statutes, which includes, among others, Va.Code § 34-4. 2 Although a state may opt-out of the federal exemptions, section 522 nevertheless gives the Virginia debtor…”
Addison v. Reavis, 158 B.R. 53 (E.D. Va. 1993).
· cites it 11× “Va.Code Ann. §§ 34-4, 34-13 (Mi-chie 1990).”
Bryant v. Smith, 165 B.R. 176 (W.D. Va. 1994).
· cites it 15× “Accordingly, notice of the § 341 meeting was proper, and the debtors had five days from the initially set meeting date to set apart property to be exempted under Va.Code §§ 34-4 and 34-34. 4 III. The debtors also claimed the poor debtor’s exemption of Virginia Code § 34-26.”
In Re Meyer, 211 B.R. 203 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 1997).
· cites it 8× “After learning that the debtor had not filed a timely homestead deed to perfect the homestead exemption claimed on his bankruptcy schedules, the trustee filed a timely objection on May 1, 1997 to those of the debtor’s exemptions that had been claimed under Va. Code Ann. §§ 34-4…”
In Re Scott, 199 B.R. 586 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 1996).
· cites it 9× “Va. Code Ann. §§ 34-4 , 34-6, 34-13, and 34-14.”
In Re Ward, 210 B.R. 531 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 1997).
· cites it 11× “The trustee does not dispute that the debtors are entitled to a $10,000 aggregate homestead exemption under Va.Code Ann. § 34-4 from the proceeds of the sale of the real estate.”
Benson v. United States (In re Benson), 566 B.R. 800 (Bankr. W.D. Va. 2017).
· cites it 9× “00 and claimed it as exempt pursuant to Va. Code Ann. § 34-4 . The Chapter 7 Trustee conducted the Section 341 meeting of creditors on April 8, 2016.”
In Re Heater, 189 B.R. 629 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 1995).
· cites it 10× “Va.Code Ann. § 34-4 (Michie 1990). 5 Courts have read this statute to permit both husband and wife to take a $5,000 Homestead Exemption when both husband and wife are debtors in bankruptcy.”
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