{"id":4892,"date":"2011-10-10T09:00:50","date_gmt":"2011-10-10T09:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.duncanlawonline.com\/?p=4892"},"modified":"2015-04-12T23:56:05","modified_gmt":"2015-04-12T23:56:05","slug":"are-workers-compensation-benefits-protected-in-bankruptcy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.duncanlawonline.com\/staging\/8350\/are-workers-compensation-benefits-protected-in-bankruptcy\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Workers&#8217; Compensation Benefits Protected in Bankruptcy?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Can I Still Receive Workers&amp;apos; Compensation Benefits if Employer Filed Bankruptcy?\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/x0r5OYb4qfc?wmode=transparent&amp;rel=0&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In many cases when a client walks in our office to seek bankruptcy advice it is because they are at the end of their rope and under severe financial distress.\u00a0 Often times, many clients have already lost or are at risk of losing nearly everything they have.<\/p>\n<p>When someone has been <a title=\"North Carolina Workers' Compensation Lawyers\" href=\"https:\/\/www.duncanlawonline.com\/workers-compensation\/\">injured at work<\/a> they are no longer able to receive their full\u00a0compensation\u00a0if they are unable to work due to their injury. Instead, they get workers&#8217; compensation benefits which are typically 66.6% of their regular income. Workers? compensation benefits may be the only asset or source of income a person has. In these situations, one of the first questions a client will ask is whether or not their workers compensation benefits will be protected, and will they be able to continue to receive the benefits if they file bankruptcy.\u00a0 Well, in most cases the answer is ?yes?.<\/p>\n<p>Workers compensation benefits may include payments you receive from your employer after being injured in an accident at work. These benefits\/payments are usually based upon a percentage of your wages and are considered income and will not be affected by filing bankruptcy.<\/p>\n<p>Under North Carolina law, workers? compensation benefits are exempt. When you file a bankruptcy, the <a title=\"Who is the Bankruptcy Trustee?\" href=\"https:\/\/www.duncanlawonline.com\/bankruptcy-trustee\/\">bankruptcy Trustee<\/a> does not have the legal right to seize any benefits that you are receiving at the time.\u00a0 Although the Trustee cannot take your benefits, your benefits are considered income and will be used for the <a title=\"What is the Means Test?\" href=\"https:\/\/www.duncanlawonline.com\/what-means-test\/\" target=\"_blank\">Means Test<\/a> to determine whether or not you can qualify for a <a title=\"Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Lawyers in North Carolina\" href=\"https:\/\/www.duncanlawonline.com\/bankruptcy\/bankruptcy-types\/chapter-7-bankruptcy\/\">Chapter 7 bankruptcy<\/a> and\/or the amount that you will need to pay back to the court in the event that you file a <a title=\"Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyers in North Carolina\" href=\"https:\/\/www.duncanlawonline.com\/bankruptcy\/bankruptcy-types\/chapter-13-bankruptcy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Chapter 13 bankruptcy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If you are expecting a large workers compensation settlement, it is very important that you discuss the pending settlement with your attorney ahead of time. Once a settlement is reached, it is necessary in some districts of North Carolina that you obtain the Court&#8217;?s approval to settle the claim and the exemptions in your bankruptcy are amended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; In many cases when a client walks in our office to seek bankruptcy advice it is because they are at the end of their rope and under severe financial distress.\u00a0 Often times, many clients have already lost or are at risk of losing nearly everything they have. When someone has been injured at work &#8230; <a title=\"Are Workers&#8217; Compensation Benefits Protected in Bankruptcy?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.duncanlawonline.com\/staging\/8350\/are-workers-compensation-benefits-protected-in-bankruptcy\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Are Workers&#8217; Compensation Benefits Protected in Bankruptcy?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4171,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","hentry","category-bankruptcy-basics","category-workers-compensation","post_format-post-format-video"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Workers&#039; Comp Benefits in Bankruptcy | Duncan Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Workers&#039; comp benefits are protected in NC bankruptcy \u2014 the trustee can&#039;t take them. Learn how they affect your means test and what to do with a pending settlement.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are Workers&#039; Compensation Benefits Protected in Bankruptcy?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=x0r5OYb4qfc &nbsp; In many cases when a client walks in our office to seek bankruptcy advice it is because they are at the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.duncanlawonline.com\/are-workers-compensation-benefits-protected-in-bankruptcy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Duncan Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/duncanlawonline\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-10T09:00:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-04-12T23:56:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.duncanlawonline.com\/staging\/8350\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dl-featured-image-default-1030x580.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1030\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"580\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Damon Duncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DuncanLaw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DuncanLaw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Damon Duncan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.duncanlawonline.com\\\/are-workers-compensation-benefits-protected-in-bankruptcy\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.duncanlawonline.com\\\/are-workers-compensation-benefits-protected-in-bankruptcy\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Damon Duncan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.duncanlawonline.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f7b4948225deab021c8ba0edbea00655\"},\"headline\":\"Are Workers&#8217; Compensation Benefits Protected in Bankruptcy?\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-10T09:00:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-04-12T23:56:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.duncanlawonline.com\\\/are-workers-compensation-benefits-protected-in-bankruptcy\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":356,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.duncanlawonline.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Bankruptcy Basics\",\"Workers' Compensation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.duncanlawonline.com\\\/are-workers-compensation-benefits-protected-in-bankruptcy\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.duncanlawonline.com\\\/are-workers-compensation-benefits-protected-in-bankruptcy\\\/\",\"name\":\"Workers' Comp Benefits in Bankruptcy | Duncan Law\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.duncanlawonline.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-10T09:00:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-04-12T23:56:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"Workers' comp benefits are protected in NC bankruptcy \u2014 the trustee can't take them. 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