In short
Exemptions are the laws that let a person keep property through a bankruptcy. Schedule C is where they’re claimed. Property that isn’t listed here isn’t claimed as exempt.
Each line ties a piece of property from Schedule A/B to a dollar amount and to the specific law that protects it. The trustee and creditors read this schedule closely and have a window after the meeting of creditors to object to it.
Who files it
Individual debtors, in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, with the rest of the schedules.
What it asks
Part 1: Identify the Property You Claim as Exempt
First, which set of exemptions applies: state and federal nonbankruptcy exemptions, or the federal bankruptcy exemptions. Then, for each item, its description and Schedule A/B line, the value of the portion you own, the amount claimed as exempt, and the law that allows it. A final question asks about homestead exemptions above a set dollar amount ($214,000 on the 04/25 form) for property acquired within 1,215 days before filing.
Part 2: Additional Page
More rows, for anyone who needs them.
The choice on line 1. Which exemption system a person can use depends on their state and how long they’ve lived there, and the two systems protect different things. The form asks for the choice. It doesn’t help make it, and neither can this page. That decision belongs with a bankruptcy attorney or a legal aid clinic.
When it’s filed
It’s filed with the petition, or within 14 days after it. That’s the deadline Bankruptcy Rule 1007(c) sets for the schedules and statements.
Related forms
- Schedule A/B: Property (Official Form 106A/B)
- Schedule D: Creditors Who Have Claims Secured by Property (Official Form 106D)
- Statement of Intention for Individuals Filing Under Chapter 7 (Official Form 108)
The official form
Official Form 106C is 2 pages long and is used in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases. This guide describes the 04/25 revision, the date printed beside the form’s title. The federal courts publish the form and replace it when it changes, so their page always has the current one.
BK Prepare’s questionnaire builds the list of forms for a case from your answers, and includes this one when it applies.