This is a common fallacy that I deal with every day. People come to me hesitant to disclose their assets afraid they will lose them.
Less than 1% of Chapter 7 cases in the Central District of California, where I practice, have assets sold in the case. Perhaps that is in part because my firm and other bankruptcy attorneys consult with would-be debtors who have non-exempt assets and warn them off. However, the larger reason is that California has fairly generous exemptions that along with good planning guided by your bankruptcy attorney makes the sale of assets unnecessary and unlikely. In most cases it is not very challenging to protect your property. In a few cases it can be a little challenging. Yet you are very unlikely to lose any of your assets in a Chapter 7 case if you are insolvent (which is why you file bankruptcy).
While protecting your property is a concern, it is not a problem. Chapter 7 is often called the “liquidation chapter” but a liquidation of anything is rare in chapter 7. Only debtors who represent themselves or get especially bad counsel wind up losing their property unexpectedly.
