On December 12, 2012, Ohio Governor Kasich, signed into law House Bill 479, the Ohio Asset Management Modernization Act, which enacts the Ohio Legacy Trust Act and will take effect on March 27, 2013. The Act will increase the residential real property exemption to $125,000.00. This same exemption was only recently increased just a few short short years ago. In 2008, Senate Bill 281 increased the exemption from $5,000 to $20,200. The bill also provided for automatic annual adjustments based upon the Consumer Price Index. However, the legislature, has now increased the exemption to $125,000.00.
Revised Code Section 2329.66 will be amended to state that every person who is domiciled in this state may hold property exempt from execution, garnishment, attachment, or sale to satisfy judgment or order as follows: (b) In the case of all other judgments and orders, the person’s interest, not to exceed one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars (revised from $20,200), in one parcel or item of real or personal property that the person or a dependent of the person uses as a residence.
This increase will make it very difficult for judgment creditor’s to recover funds through judgment liens or other encumbrances upon real estate. Creditor’s in Ohio will have to look to other means to obtain payment of their lawfully entered judgments.
Many thanks to Sonya Gaines for her contributions to this article. Sonya is a paralegal with Slovin & Associates Co., L.P.A.
