Florida TBE Exemption for Vehicles

[aljohnson007]

I'm in the process of filing an individual Chapter 7 as I have no joint debts. I know I can use TBE for the house and personal property and bak accounts but am unsure regarding the vehicle which is paid for and worth about $7K. The vehicle is titled in both names with the word "AND." Would like to know if anyone has experienced this situation.

[sophia]

Hello, just wondering what "TBE " is. I just filed in Florida and I have no clue what it is.
Thanx

[DeadManCrawling]

TBE is a very interesting statute and not the same in Florida as in some states.

Tenancy By The Entirities basically means:

Property acquired in the course of the marriage is owned by BOTH spouses. One spouse may not be deprived of their share by the other filing bankruptcy.

That is, any property held in TBE can not be taken by creditors unless BOTH spouses owe the same creditor.

It is a handy tool, but also fraught with risk. For instance bank accounts must be registered as TBE at the time they are opened. Adding a spouse later and trying to change it has been found ineffective in several court rulings.

Property is generally assumed to be TBE I believe, but there are all sorts of qualifications for different scenarios, and only a lawyer can really answer in any detail.

A fellow in Orlando has a site (he is an asset protection attorney) and answers tons of these types of questions on the site. Jonathon Alper I think. Run a search.

Very good info, to get you started.

Good luck!

[justbroke]

Very good posting DMC. I would follow DMC's advice to look at the Asset Protection type websites. There are also some articles at Bankruptcy Law Network on the topic.

[sophia]

Thank you for the explanation.

TBE is a very interesting statute and not the same in Florida as in some states.

Tenancy By The Entirities basically means:

Property acquired in the course of the marriage is owned by BOTH spouses. One spouse may not be deprived of their share by the other filing bankruptcy.

That is, any property held in TBE can not be taken by creditors unless BOTH spouses owe the same creditor.

It is a handy tool, but also fraught with risk. For instance bank accounts must be registered as TBE at the time they are opened. Adding a spouse later and trying to change it has been found ineffective in several court rulings.

Property is generally assumed to be TBE I believe, but there are all sorts of qualifications for different scenarios, and only a lawyer can really answer in any detail.

A fellow in Orlando has a site (he is an asset protection attorney) and answers tons of these types of questions on the site. Jonathon Alper I think. Run a search.

Very good info, to get you started.

Good luck!