father/son on land together

[mejay76]

My husband and I are thinking of filing chapter 7 and we were going to go with a lawyer but decided we cant afford that and are doing it on our own. My question is that the land we live on is in both my husbands and my fil's name and the lawyer said that we would have to change it to my husband only since they could come after my fil since his name is on it. Does this make any sense? Thanks alot.

[kcj]

That might make sense if you want the trustee to get the whole thing!

I would be careful about putting the propertyl only in FIL's name because that would look like you are hiding it from the trustee, but I would never put it in your husband's name alone before filing. If you do, that opens up the entire asset to the trustee. It will be a lot more work for him if 1/2 the land is owned by someone who is not filing.

[alh]

How much equity do you have and what state are you in?

[SinkingFast]

First,........... The look back period on transfers of assets and property is 1 year. If you go changing names on the Deed now, that will look fraudulent to the BK Court.

If you were gonna change names, you should put it all over into FIL's name and not all over into Hubby's name. If FIL owns the property, the Court would have no interest in it. It doesn't belong to your Hubby.

But, if you were gonna do that, you shoulda done it a long time ago. While the look back period is 1 year, the Court can easily go back 2 years if they want.

The Court is gonna be LESS interested in the property because there's a 3rd party co owner. Trustees like to sieze and sell assests that are clean and easy to take. Having a co owner on the property can make for a messy issue.

Plus, your Hubby's interest in the property is only half the value. If the land is valued at $100K, Hubby's part is $50K. If you have a loan on the land for your part, then there's a Secured Creditor involved too.

You're best off to leave the Deed and Title work as is on that piece of property for BK purposes.

Sounds like that attny was looking for some kickback for himself from greasing the palm of the Trustee. And it does happen. Some less than trustworthy attnys take advantage of clients all the time by steering assets to the Trustee.

Even if you intend on filing on your own, you should Consult with other attnys. See what they have to say about how to handle your case. You'll learn a lot that will help you when you do file. And Consults are generally free.

[mejay76]

ok I will explain a little better sorry!!
our first mortgage balance is 62000 with mine and my husbands name
2nd mortgage is 27300 has him and his dad listed on the deed. I thought the lawyer might be shady since I found the number for bankruptcy court and she agreed it would look shady with changing it and they would be more willing to investigate that. I live in wv and the reason my husband is filing is that we are going to be served with a judgement on a repo of truck for 18,000 (long story) and we are about 20000 in debt with cc i cant file since i had before i met my husband and it hasnt been 8 years and the lawyer had said there was no way around that so I am stuck until apr 07

[alh]

If I read this correctly, there is only about 10,000 in equity. WV has a 25,000homestead exemption. There is nothing for the trusttee to go after here. (my opinion only, please talk to a couple of lawyers as your house is at stake)

Some of the other posters will chime in if I am missing something.

[mejay76]

yes I read that somewhere else our house appraised for 97000 almost a year ago so im not sure how the market is right now with housing

[SinkingFast]

Even tho you are not eligible to file Ch 7 again yet, you can file Ch 13.

If you have debt that's not dischargeable in Hubby's BK and it would make your payment situation easier, you could look at a Ch 13 for yourself.