Help! My wife may have commmitted BK fraud to stick me with all of the debt ...

[tdstl]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? IL
My wife and I owned our home jointly. We had ammassed a considerable amount of unsecrued debt (3 credit cards in her name, 3 in mine + two car loans). I have been self-employed for a year and have reported no income because my business had yet to turn a profit. My wife convinced me to sign the house over to her so we could refinance and pay off a large portion of the unsecured debt. I signed the house over to her, and that day (without my knowledge) she filed for divorce, changed the locks on the house, and paid off all of her creditors leaving me unemployed with $24,000 of unsecured debt (now which is 2-months delinqueint). I am now staring bankruptcy in the face. She refuses to give me any releif. I have been advised that she committed fraud by tricking me into signing over the house, and that a bankruptcy court would most likely reverse that course of action and redistribute the funds to all of the creditors (hers and mine) in a fair manor. Do I have a leg to stand on?

[djohnson]

How did you sign the house over to her? Was it refinanced in just her name? If so it could possibly backfire on her. Any equity would be a marital asset, any debt would be in just her name if that was the case. Do you have an attorney? You really need one to represent your interests in this divorce.

[tdstl]

She did refinance in her name only, and then took out a line of credit on what equity was available to her. She used the refi/LOC to pay off all of her debt (and buy a new car). At the same time, I signed a Quit Claim Dead over to her. It's possible that since I was mislead as to why I was signing the dead, and under the circumstances of the timing, that a bankruptcy (or other) court may nullify that transaction, essentially taking us back to where we were before anything was signed. I have consulted with an attorney, and will retain his services on Monday.

[djohnson]

Chances are the fraud you are talking about won't happen. It's a he said/she said thing. She can claim you agreed and she bought you out, or anything. The key is to have proof of everything. Prove even in her name, it is marital assets. The monies she spent can be used for her portion of equity division or alimony. You have a shot, but really make sure you have a good attorney that can get the different options out.