Sheryl told you about Governor Mark Sanford’s veto of a new exemption bill, which determines how much property can be protected from creditors. The South Carolina statutory amounts hadn’t been changed since 1979. The good news is that lawmakers in Columbia voted overwhelmingly to override the governor’s veto, and the new measure has become law.

“We needed it to be more in line with modern times,” said George Cauthen, a bankruptcy attorney who primarily represents lenders. “The whole idea behind exemptions is to leave every individual … to leave them with a little dignity and the basics of getting by in life.

The new law applies in bankruptcy, to protect a certain amount of property from a bankruptcy trustee. But it also applies outside of bankruptcy, to protect property from judgment creditors. It increases the exemption in cash (in lieu of a homestead exemption) from $1,000 to $5,000, in a vehicle from $1,200 to $5,000, in household goods from $2,500 to $4,000, and in tools of a trade from $750 to $1,500. The new statute also adds a $5,000 “wildcard” exemption, which can protect assets not otherwise exempt, if you don’t use all of your other exemptions. Those amounts are per person; for a married couple, the amounts will double. These amounts are in addition to the $50,000 homestead exemption that the Legislature gave us two years ago. Click here for more on how exemptions work.

In practical terms, this change in the law means that if you need to file bankruptcy but your 1998Toyota Camry is paid for, you don’t have to worry about losing it. If you’ve managed to save a couple thousand bucks to pay for your kid’s braces, you don’t have to worry about losing that either. If you inherited your grandmother’s Shaker sideboard, you don’t have to give it up. If you are entitled to a tax refund, you won’t have to give that up either. This statute provides meaningful relief to those in financial distress, and reflects the actual cost of supporting a family in today’s economy. Another bit of good news is that the new statute contains a cost-of-living adjustment, so we won’t have to deal with the statute becoming so outdated in the future.

This change is the law is largely due to the tireless efforts of a few dedicated consumer advocates, especially Sue Berkowitz of Appleseed Legal Justice, consumer lawyers, and ordinary people who wrote, called and e-mailed their elected representatives. I also have to put my native cynicism aside for a moment to say that I have been impressed at the sincere efforts so many of our state legislators put into this legislation. They listened and responded with genuine concern for their constituents.