Alabama has no specific exemption for personal injury claims. There is a personal property exemption available up to $7,750.00 that you can apply ( to the extent not already used) to the personal injury settlement. When you file Chapter 13, a personal injury settlement would be an asset that is available for creditors on the basis that all of the Debtor's after acquired income is subject to the Court's jurisdiction. However, exemptions in the context of a conversion from Ch 13 to Ch7 are determined on the date of filing of the Chapter 13, and after acquired property ( property or claims coming into existence or "vested" after the date of filing of the Chapter 13 are not property of the estate in the context of conversion to Chapter 7. If the accident happened before the filing date of the Chapter 13, then it IS property of the bankruptcy estate either in ch 13 ( it can affect the amount payable to general unsecured creditors ) or upon conversion to Ch 7 ( it must be turned over to pay creditors, less the applicable exemption). You should always immediately alert your attorney whenever you believe you may have a claim for recovery while in a ch 13 bankruptcy case, and certainly if you are converting to ch 7 or considering filing ch 7.
