My "homes" and bankruptcy

[AngelinaCat]

Here in Florida, at least, you must reside in your house for at least six months prior, and on January 1 of the year you wish to establish the Homestead exemption. Then you must renew it each year, until you build a history of living in your home for x number of years, whereupon, the exemption renewal becomes automatic.

[btbeme]

OK, some general - very general - thoughts...

- You are a one third owner of the townhouse. If there is equity in that townhouse, you must be able to exempt it, else it (your equity stake) will be at risk.

- If you are on the title to the first house, you are a 1/2 owner of the equity, assuming your ex is also on the title. If so, you must be able to exempt that equity stake or risk it going away.

- Your attorney can advise whether you have allowable exemptions that would cover those assets. Examples of exemptions would be homestead and/or personal exemptions (wildcard, equity) allowed in your state. Colorado exemptions allow for $60,000 in home equity if you occupy that home. Since you do not occupy the home, I am hoping that you are still married or can somehow otherwise claim that place as your home - or have a really sharp lawyer who can make that exemption work for you.

More details would help, but on the surface I'd opine that you have some rough waters to navigate here. Not that this should be taken as legal advice, but I'd check closely with several attorneys before making the jump.

[doni49]

Can a homestead exemption even be applied to someone else's residence? Both properties sound like they'd be classified as property you currently possess but someone else owns.

Can you provide a paper trail showing that the other persons have been making the payments and NOT you?

Make sure your atty knows EVERYTHING you've told us.

[gunnagtthr]

I guess my situation could be called a mess, but I suppose anything leading to bankruptcy is a mess.

Here is my situation: I had a nasty end to a relationship last year, which is what led to completely bankrupting me.

We owned a house together, and that person is living in the house and making the payments, which are current. I don't want to lose the house, and my attorney is pretty sure there is not a risk of that with the payments being current. He said the main impact with the bankruptcy is that if she ever walks away from it, they won't come after me (basically). I am not sure if my bankruptcy will effect her credit or anything else. Do you? The equity in it is about $70k. If I understand everything correctly, I am allowed $60k in house equity, which my half in this house is $35k, so it should be exempt from the ch. 7, correct?

Next situation - my daughter was fortunate enough to buy a little townhouse about 6 years ago. At the time, she didn't have credit so my name, and my ex's is on the loan, and my daughter and the two of us are on the title. I have never made a payment, and my daughter and roommates have all pmts current. Same situation with her house. Is she in jeopardy since I am declaring bankruptcy? The equity in hers may be a total of $20k, if that.

Any advice on not getting totally depressed over all of this? Other than those two homes, I really have no equity or assets (other than personal belongings and car - which falls below the $5k allowance for vehicles) anywhere.