does bankrutcy law differ from state to state?

Good question.  I see a lot of inaccurate statements from people on the internet about this very question. Bankruptcy law is federal, but interpretation of the bankruptcy laws can vary from district to district across the country.  Unless there is a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a particular issue, there will be differences in court opinions. There are also several aspects of the Bankruptcy Code which defer to state law for a particular portion of a case.  (Actually, the technical term is "applicable nonbankruptcy law" because it can also includes other federal laws or administrative laws which are not bankruptcy-specific.) Exemptions One main area this arises is with regard to exemptions of assets.  Exemptions protect the value in assets from creditor collections.  Bankruptcy law provides that the state in which the debtor filing bankruptcy resided for the 2 years prior to filing the case.  Or, if there was more than one state during that period, where they resided for the greater part of the 180 days prior to the 2 year period. There are lots of other examples of where The Bankruptcy Code defers to state or nonbankruptcy law, for issues of contract, fraudulent transfers, statutes of limitation, and many others. Community Property Law--State Another huge are in which bankruptcy defers to state law is with respect to property laws.  Whether the state in which the case is filed is a community property state or not can have huge consequences as to how income/eligibility are determined, as well as which assets are part of the "pool" that would be affected by the bankruptcy (known as "property of the estate"). Local-Local Rules To make things trickier, each bankruptcy court has its own set of local procedural rules and many bankruptcy judges have their own individual rules on top of that.   Conclusion The above are but a very few of examples of where nonbankruptcy laws apply in a bankruptcy case.   That is why no matter how expert a given bankruptcy attorney may be on bankruptcy laws, it's important to consult with one in the jurisdiction where your case is going to be filed.   Mark Markus has been practicing exclusively bankruptcy law in California since 1991.  He is a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization,  AV-Rated by martindale.com, and A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau.