All cards are now in my name, can i file alone?

[davie20001]

Hello all...I must say that this board has been a mental lifesaver for me. I have 70k in CC debt, big mortgage, heloc, 3 kids, at home wife/mom.

A couple of the cards were in the wife's name as the primary acct holder and i have been able to transfer those to my name. Now, i have wanted to keep her out of filing jointly and i think this may be the thing that does it.

My question is, can i still file chpt 7 alone and be able to keep the house, contents, etc? The house is in both our names as are the cars, but i was planning on getting rid of one of the cars and using the inlaws old one.

Thanks
davie

[lrprn]

A couple of the cards were in the wife's name as the primary acct holder and i have been able to transfer those to my name. Now, i have wanted to keep her out of filing jointly and i think this may be the thing that does it.

In order to allay any suspicion of fraud, since you just tranferred the cards into your name alone, depending on the local trustee customs in your district, you may need to wait as long as a year to file. Did you discuss doing these transfers into your name with a bankruptcy attorney before you did them? Transferring the cards wasn't the best thing to do if you need to file quickly.

My question is, can i still file chpt 7 alone and be able to keep the house, contents, etc? The house is in both our names as are the cars, but i was planning on getting rid of one of the cars and using the inlaws old one.

The answers depends on how you come out on the required Means Test and which state you intend to file in.

It would help us help you better if you can provide a little more information: Which state will you file in? Will your income for the prior six months before you file above or below your state's median income? (See http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/2...come_table.htm for median incomes by state and family size.) How much equity do you have in your house? When did you purchase the car you intend to keep and how much do you owe on it compared to its resale value? Are your in-laws going to give you their old car as a gift or will you have to make payments on it? Do you intend to reaffirm your mortgage and one car loan when you file? Does your wife make any income as a stay-at-home mom? Do you have other assets that you need to protect? Do you have other non-secured debt that your wife is a co-signer on? Have you had any consultations with bankruptcy attorneys up to now? Do you intend to use an attorney when you file?

Apologies for the glut of questions, but the current bk law is very complex and there are a lot of gray areas. Without some specifics about your situation, it's difficult to say whether something you want to keep is possible to keep or not. Hang in there - we want to help if we can!

[davie20001]

here are my answers to your questions

The answers depends on how you come out on the required Means Test and which state you intend to file in.

It would help us help you better if you can provide a little more information: Which state will you file in? VA
Will your income for the prior six months before you file above or below your state's median income? (See http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/2...come_table.htm for median incomes by state and family size.) Lawyer said my expenses compared to my income far exceed my income, so i would be a good cht 7 candidate.
How much equity do you have in your house? we went through this together and figured we would come up owing more than getting a profit out of the house.
When did you purchase the car you intend to keep and how much do you owe on it compared to its resale value? I bought it about 2 yrs ago and owe a little more than it is worth
Are your in-laws going to give you their old car as a gift or will you have to make payments on it? it is a POS toyota that is worth less than $1000 and it would be a gift
Do you intend to reaffirm your mortgage and one car loan when you file? yes
Does your wife make any income as a stay-at-home mom? NO
Do you have other assets that you need to protect? only contents of the house and clothes
Do you have other non-secured debt that your wife is a co-signer on? NO
Have you had any consultations with bankruptcy attorneys up to now? Yes
Do you intend to use an attorney when you file? Yes

[SinkingFast]

Here's a link to a website about VA Exemptions:

http://www.bankruptcyinformation.com/VA_exemp.htm

From the sound of your responses to Lrprn's Q's, you should fair OK in the Exemptions department.

The one question that remains is the transfer of the accts into your name only.

Were you already on the accts as a responsible party and simply dropped wife off?? Or was she the primary where you took over responsibility for the accts??

[HHM]

I am honestly not sure how much of a difference transferring the cards into your name will really do. Did you get new credit cards issued (with new account numbers), or did you merely take her name off.

If all you did was take your wife's name off, here is the possible rub. I am betting that the charges (the balances) were incurred while the accounts were in her name. Thus, there is at least a good faith legal argument that your wife is still liable on the accounts.

However, if your canceled the old accounts and created new ones, your wife won't be liable, but you will probably need to wait at least 3 months before filing Bk.

[davie20001]

more answers

Well...They were incurred while she was on the account as the primary and i need to be honest here...i have not yet transferred the cards into my name only. The cc companies are sending me the forms to sign to make me the primary and what i was thinking was dropping her off the accounts when that happens. I called my attny and he wants to see the forms first before i sign them. He had some reservations about doing this thing and said we would both benefit from filing jointly as we could rebuild our credit history pretty quickly.

[HHM]

Well...They were incurred while she was on the account as the primary and i need to be honest here...i have not yet transferred the cards into my name only. The cc companies are sending me the forms to sign to make me the primary and what i was thinking was dropping her off the accounts when that happens. I called my attny and he wants to see the forms first before i sign them. He had some reservations about doing this thing and said we would both benefit from filing jointly as we could rebuild our credit history pretty quickly.

That it sound advice.