Tools of the Trade: Protecting Work Equipment in Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is supposed to give people a fresh start, and you can't restart without the tools you work with. Tools-of-the-trade exemptions exist for exactly that reason: they protect the equipment your income depends on, separately from your other personal property.
What the exemption covers
Tools, equipment, instruments, and books used in a trade or profession — a contractor's tools, a stylist's chair and kit, a musician's working instrument, a designer's computer. Arizona's tools-of-trade exemption is A.R.S. § 33-1130; Washington provides its own allowance under RCW 6.15.010.
Work vehicles are a special case
A truck used in the business may qualify under tools of the trade in some circumstances, or may need the motor vehicle exemption instead — and the answer changes the numbers significantly. This is a classification question an attorney resolves before filing, not after.
Self-employed and gig workers
The exemption applies to sole proprietors, independent contractors, and gig workers just as it does to employees. Business entities are different — equipment owned by an LLC belongs to the LLC, and protecting it involves entity-level analysis rather than personal exemptions.
Exemption amounts and rule thresholds change on statutory schedules. See our monthly rule reports for the current figures with citations to the official sources.
Need help protecting what you've worked for?
Majors Law Group, P.C. — an independent bankruptcy firm running its practice on Bankruptcy.AI — handles Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases in Arizona and Washington.
Bankruptcy.AI is a technology platform, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. Majors Law Group, P.C. is a separate, independent law firm. This page is general information and is not legal advice; outcomes depend on your specific facts.