What??

[nomoney4me]

I went to a lawyer today for a review and he stated that because the house my husband and I owned was sold less then four years ago,and we bought a new house in just his name that it wouldn't be advisable to claim any type of bankruptcy. The lawyer says that even though it asks on paper if you have owned any property in the last year that the trustee might ask in the 341 about the last 4 years and that I would be under oath and that if I lied that it would be perjury. Is this true

[HHM]

So I assume that your bankruptcy is not a joint bankruptcy with you and your husband, is that correct?

[nomoney4me]

No, my husband has good credit. All the credit card debt is in my name all 38000......
We just recently married in August of this year, the reason we bought this house in just his name is because my credit was already bad and nobody would even consider giving a loan in my name. I haven't used these cards or made a payment on them in over a year. I never heard of this 4 year thing before this.

[HHM]

Well, we are really not in a position to dispute an attorney's recommendation. However, generally speaking, in bankruptcy, a person has a one half interest in the property of their spouse, and vice-versa. So even if only one spouse file bankruptcy, the assets and income of the other spouse become assets of the bankruptcy estate up to the amount of the interest of the filing spouse.

Also, to clarify, you owned a house together BEFORE you were married?

[nomoney4me]

Yes we bought a house before we were married.We bought the house in March 2001, we sold that house in April of 2003 we recieved a check for 39000 in both our names, the check was deposited in a savings account in just his name. In Sept of this year paid off his truck and his credit cards because this is the only way he could recieve financing for the new house. The rest of the money was used for the down payment,and we still had to borrow another 5 thousand from my mother towards the down payment. The lawyer seems to think I shouldn't bother trying to file for any type of bankruptcy,he wanted a thousand dollar fee just to send the creditors letters trying to strike a deal! He said that if I try to go bankrupt that the trustee would probably come after my husband to get the truck and house. We did no get married until August 2004.

[HHM]

trustee would probably come after my husband to get the truck and house.

That is what I thought, it really has nothing to do with the house you sold 4 years ago, its probably an issue with you states exemptions and the way the property is titled. Again, even if the house is only in his name, you, as your husbands spouse, have an equitable interest in that property (and his truck for that matter).

However, it seems like this attorney is being a little over cautious.

Next question, over what time frame did you accumulate your debt, perhaps the attorney's concern is that you has significant debt around the time you purchased this new house and since you only put it in your husbands name, it will likely be viewed as a fraudulent transfer in an effort to keep assets out of reach of your creditors.

Generally, trustees are suspicious when one spouse files and not the other. The more you explain your situation, the more I think your attorney is on the right track, but you can always go see another attorney for a second opinion.

[nomoney4me]

First off I want to say thanks for all your input...Ok my credit card debt started accumilating around 98 thru 00 I was able to maintain minimum payments for a couple of years just before we sold the house I was having problems staying afloat. I havent used or paid on a majority of the cards (all except one) for over a year and a half.