I will start by saying I will try to keep this short. To make a long story short, Me and my husband are about 70,000 in credit card debt. About a year ago due to personal reasons we became unable to make the payments. A month ago my Mother was killed in a head on car crash. I am two weeks away from probate putting my Mothers house in my name. I realize this will make me an easy target if my creditors learn I have inherited a second home. I think the only sure way to protect my mothers house from my creditors is to go ahead and file bankruptcy. Due to my present financial state, I think that chapter 7 would be my only option. A couple of my main questions are: 1. Does the bankruptcy go into affect the day you file? (Because my probate will be up at the end of this month.) 2. I was also wondering if it would be beneficial for me and my husband to file bankruptcy seperately or jointly? (The house and 50,000 of the credit card debt are soley in my name while the remaining 20,000 is soley in my husbands name.) Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help. Maekenzie
Check your state's BK laws, I believe I've read somewhere that inherited property *might* be excludable. Disclaimer - never filed BK, but its sure worth checking so you do this in the right order. I too am very sorry to hear about your mother.
I believe that the BK code allows seizing of non-exempt assets within 90 days after discharge, in the case of an inheritance
Thank You Thank you for all of your suggestions. After researching online last night, I've got a few more questions that I hope you can help me out with. 1. If I transferred my house over to my Mother-In-Law, would the house be safe? (Either if I transferred after I became executor or if I let her be executor of my Mother's estate and it never even transferred to my name at all?) 2. When a bk is discharged, can they overturn it and how long of a legal timeframe do they have to dispute it before I am safe? (For example, if I get the house out of my name but then one of my creditors finds out about it). 3. How does the bk court and creditors find out about my inheritance if I do not disclose it? 4. Does anyone know how a friendly lien against a house works? 5. Does anyone have any experience on how a offshore trust works and is it safe? Thanks in advance for your help, it is really appreciated. Maekenzie
I am sorry for your loss too ... Being unemployed and more than $50K in debt, I myself found this board looking for info on BK. I've read a lot about the BK and can see that your case is more complicated than the cases discussed here. Follow Butch's advise and find a good attorney. I guess the posters can help you do it. Good luck and keep us posted!
Re: Thank You Are you the executor (mother had a will) or Administrator (no will - you were appointed by the court). If you are the administrator, which by talking about letting your MIL be the executor, thats what it sounds like, everything has to be approved by the court. Intestate laws are complicated, and you may not be able to transfer it directly to her because that's what you want to do. Are there other family members - like your aunts or uncles? They may or may not have a claim if your Mom died intestate. How do the courts find out about inheritances? Who knows, but I'm quite sure once you file BK, you will be swearing under oath that you have disclosed everything you have to disclose. You are asking about alot of things, some of which are bordering on illegal (I'm not accusing here!!!!), of which ignorance is not an excuse in the eyes of the law. You really, really need an attorney.
