what would happen

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? ohio
i am thinking about filing chapter 7. i have a '97 free & clear explorer & 2 financed vehicles. i know the trustee will make me get rid of 1 of the vehicles. what would happen if before i file, i sold the '97 for book value & used that money to put in a couple of new windows (that are broke) & replaced my 28 year old air conditioner.

[Ladynred]

Selling assets before you file can be seen as bankruptcy fraud, its best not to do it at all. You always have the option to REDEEM the vehicle rather than have the Trustee take it from you. That means you pay the Trustee the current market value of the Truck to keep it and that is NOT the bluebook value.

OH has some cheesey exemptions, you can only exempt $1000 in equity in ONE vehicle, so you need to know how much equity you have in the financed cars or you could end up losing one of those too !

[AttorneyOney]

This is a situation that calls for advice from a bankruptcy attorney in your own district. There's nothing illegal about exemption planning, where you sell non-exempt assets and use the proceeds to purchase assets that will be exempt. But bankruptcy judges differ on what they will tolerate. The only way to be safe is to get expert advice.