Urgent Advice Pls-Partition!

Texas. If you own a home with someone you were never married to, and they file ch 7 bk, listing the home as a homestead, making it exempt, and they are discharged.....if they move out and then sue for partition 3 years after making no payments on the home....

Does their 1/2 of the payments they have not been making get subtracted from their equity? I am the person still in the house and have been keeping the payments current since the debtor left, and he is now sueing for partition.

What happens now and how can I keep the house?

Anyone!?!

Although the debtor has been discharged, the bk case is still open. Shouldn't the trustee have a problem with the debtor trying to sell and collect money from his "exempt homestead" while the case is still open and no distribution to creditors has occured yet?

Please Anyone? I have been served!

Can't anyone assist? I have just consulted my atty who is defending me in the Ex's bankruptcy abt the matter....she wished me the best of luck!!!!

What to do??? I have 20 days from yesterday to file an answer!

Post your questions in the Bankruptcy forum, there are knowledgable folks there that can answer your questions.

Partition is an equitable remedy, meaning that the court must "do justice". The court will have a hearing, and will look at who has paid what (mortgage, taxes, improvements, etc). The court will then likely order the property sold, and the proceeds divided between the parties on a percentage basis accordingly what it decides is fair based on who paid what.

You have to answer the lawsuit as you would any other lawsuit, and then argue that you are entitled to the majority (if not all) of the property. If the other person has a small enough percentage, you may be able to buy him out (many banks will allow you to finance this purchase) and keep the house.

the issue really is where the proceeds go - I'd be very careful about paying anyone other than the trustee in the bankruptcy proceeding. You may want to call the trustee's office and explain the situation and seek guidance. The trustee may want to intervene in the lawsuit for the purposes of securing payment. In addition, you can ask the court in the partition lawsuit to decide if you have to pay the trustee.

Being married or not married is irrelevant. For example, property is partioned all the time between people who inherit it from someone.

I have been searching through past caselaws/statutes/laws, in an effort to find anything relating to whether or not the court will subtract from the debtors equity 1/2 of all the payments/taxes/upkeep that I have been paying alone since he filed his bk and abandoned the property both physically and monetarily years ago. Since his BK was discharged, how does that apply to this partition case?

I am just worried that the court will rule that he has a right to 1/2 interest in the home, and because of the discharge, he did not have to pay anything to earn it