property transfer

[ZOIE]

What is the name of your state? Indiana How long after a property transfer can you file bk 7 & that property not be involved? thanx

 

[Ladynred]

They will examine property transfers that occured 12 months prior to filing, but I've seen where they will examine transfers for up to 3 years.

 

[dorenephilpot]

Timing matters, of course, but it also depends on the reason for the transfer or sale of the item and what you did w/the proceeds.

For instance, if you transfer the title to your paid-off Mercedes to a family member and then file for BK protection shortly thereafter, that could be considered fraud. The reason behind that is that if you have something that's worth that much, you could sell it and pay off your creditors -- or at least make a huge dent. There's no reason for your creditors to get screwed when you could handle the financial situation with your own devices.

On the other hand, if you got married and put your wife's name on the house before the BK, that probably would pass muster.

Or if you cashed in a cash-value life insurance policy and used the proceeds for your child's college, that probably would pass muster also.

I wouldn't do any of that the week before you file, but if you let at least six months or more pass, it looks less suspicious to the trustee, whose job it is to find assets to distribute to your creditors.

Hope this information helps.

 

[ZOIE]

I sold the undeveloped property to my daughter for less than it is worth.
Here is my reason: my grandmother sold it to my father for the same amount of money, who in turn sold it to me a years ago for the same amount of money. So, I sold it to my daughter for the same amount of money. It's tradition, I guess you would call it. The trustee would probably call it something else. I really would like to file bk & get back to a less stressful life. I was going to file in January of this year, but the lawyer said "the credit card company will just write off the debts & you won't have to pay a thing". I was very uneducated about the "write off" process at the time & believed every word! I am trying to settle w/the CA's, but it not going well. thanx zoie

 

[dorenephilpot]

Sounds like you have a rational explanation for it.

How much was the land really worth?

If it's under the exemption levels, then it would be exempt anyway.

How long ago was the transaction?

 

[ZOIE]

I don't know how much it's worth, it has never been appraised. What is the exemption limit in Indiana? It was sold on 7-25-02.

 

[dorenephilpot]

The exemption levels in Indiana are $15,000 in equity in real property for a married couple, half that for a single filer, and $8K in personal property for a married couple, half that for a single filer.

 

[ZOIE]

Well, it doesn't look like I can file bk for awhile, because I doubt if land is going for $500 an acre. Bummer! I guess I will just have to try to deal with the difficult CA's for awhile. And hope if they do validate that they will take a 35% or less lump sum.

 

[dorenephilpot]

Another option is a Chapter 13, where the exemption levels that I mentioned previously don't apply.

By filing a 13, you can keep property above the exemption levels. The tradeoff is that you have to make payments to a trustee over a three- to five-year period.

 

[ZOIE]

Don't you have to have a steady income to file bk 13? I don't have any income. There is an income of about $1000 a year off the land, but that doesn't go to me. And alot of that goes for property taxes.