Mobile Home on deceased father's property

[sostressedout]

My father-in-law passed away 8 years ago, with no will. My husband acted as executor and split assets between himself and his half brother. The land we live on and have our mobile home on is in my father-in-law's name because my husband never got around to doing it as part of the estate. The land will be my husband's because it came from his mom's side, and his brother had a different mom and has no interest in it. I consulted an attorney a few years back and was told we need to file a Quiet Title Action, and it would cost about $1,500, to get the property into my husband's name.

I have retained an attorney to help us file Chapter 7, and when he asked about where our mobile home is parked I said that it is parked on my father-in-law's land and we pay the property taxes as "kind-of" rent ($140/month). The reason I was not on the up-and-up is that I would be devastated if I caused my husband to lose property that has been in his family for over 60 years! My question is, I have been reading a few pages of posts, and I saw mentioned that the Trustee will ask if your parents are alive. Is this true in every district? I am So Stressed Out about this......

[lrprn]

SSO, you need to be honest and up front when you speak with your lawyer. He/she can't help you effectively if they don't know the real circumstances. Not sharing all the information available can often cause big problems after bankruptcy filings, especially when land ownership is in question.

You need legal advice from a good real estate attorney along with a good bankruptcy attorney from your area to know how this situation with the land will play out if you file Ch 7. It's too bad your husband didn't take care of getting the title transferred to him long ago.

To answer your question, no, most trustees do not ask if your parents are alive. Ours didn't. Trustees often do ask if you anticipate an inheritance in the next six months though.

Keep us posted about what you find out. Hang in there....it's better to know exactly where you stand than to keep guessing what might or might not happen if you file.

[sostressedout]

If I were to file individually, would that help? We live in WA, which I think is a community property state. We are 90k in debt, 43k of which is in my name only. I am afraid to talk to the attorney about it, because if he doesn't know then he won't have to lie.

I saw in the sticky above that the Trustee will ask:

1. Do you own or have any interest whatsoever in any real estate? If owned: When did you purchase the property? How much did the property cost? What are the mortgages encumbering it? What do you estimate the present value of the property to be? Is that the whole value or your share? How did you arrive at that value? If renting: Have you ever owned the property in which you live and/or is its owner in any way related to you?

If this question is asked, I can (somewhat) honestly answer that yes, we are renting (I consider the $140/mo for property taxes rent), and yes, the owner is my F-I-L. At that point, would the Trustee ask more questions, want an affidavit from F-I-L, look up court records and find that my husband was executor of F-I-L's estate 8 years ago? Or is renting a lot from family pretty common?

The $1,500 to change the titles is not the only expense stopping us from refinancing.....we also have to do over 10k in improvements before we can eliminate the title of the mobile home, which is the only way we could do a consolidation refi.

Sorry if I sound like a big loser, but before we got married my husband had no debt, and most of the debt on his half of the 90k is from me, so I feel terribly guilty about that. I gave the attorney his fee, but we were going to wait until February to file because my husband cashed in his 401k in July, and that makes our income too high for 7. So far, we have been up to date on our credit cards, but since we paid the attorney, we will be behind very soon, like next week, when the creditors don't receive their money. I didn't sleep at all last night worrying about this. Thanks for reading my "rant"

[lrprn]

If I were to file individually, would that help? We live in WA, which I think is a community property state.

Washington is a community property state, so filing individually won't help. Your husband owns half of all the debt acquired during your marriage. Since your father-in-law died during your marriage, you have a right to half of the land as well.

I am afraid to talk to the attorney about it, because if he doesn't know then he won't have to lie.

You need to tell your lawyer the truth. If you don't, you could very well end up in the very situation you fear....losing the property. Let your lawyer help you decide how to best handle this situation. To do otherwise is just sticking your head in the ground hoping the problem is going to magically go away.

Sorry if I sound like a big loser, but before we got married my husband had no debt, and most of the debt on his half of the 90k is from me, so I feel terribly guilty about that.

You don't sound like a big loser...just someone who is feeling very guilty and is overwhelmed with the choices you are faced with at the moment. Many of us have been there ourselves. It takes tremendous energy to get past the guilt and fear to do what has to be done - look at your financial and land ownership problems in an unemotional, cold, clear-headed way with the help of lawyers who know the law in your state plus understand the customs and practices of the local court and its trustees.

Don't allow your guilt to stop you from finding out what is possible to do in your situation to protect the land.

Your situation is a tricky one. Stop guessing about what the trustee is going to ask you (there's no way to predict this with any certainty). Go find out where you and your husband really stand on this property if you file bankruptcy. Unless your bankruptcy attorney has a lot of experience dealing with real estate, you need to meet with an area real estate attorney as well.

Your financial situation is only getting worse the longer you delay because you feel guilty about the debt. Put aside your shame and guilt and go find out what's possible to do to fix this for your family.