Can My Sister Add Me to a Deed Before I File Bankruptcy?
Full Question:
Answer:
Any asset your have ownership interest in will be required to be listed when you file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Bankruptcy law provides for the development of a plan that allows a debtor, who is unable to pay his creditors, to resolve his debts through the division of his assets among his creditors.The philosophy behind the law is to allow the debtor to make a fresh start, not to be punished for inability to pay debts. Bankruptcy law allows certain debtors to be discharged of the financial obligations they have accumulated, after their assets are distributed, even if their debts have not been paid in full.
Chapter 13 allows individuals who have reliable incomes to pay all or a portion of their debts under protection and supervision of the court. Under Chapter 13, you file a bankruptcy petition and a proposed payment plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The law requires that the payments have a value at least equal to what would have been distributed in a Chapter 7 liquidation case. An important feature of Chapter 13 is that you will be permitted to keep all your assets while the plan is in effect and after you have successfully completed it.
Transfering assets right before filing bankruptcy may throw up red flags for examination.
The elements of a fraudulent conveyance transfer are defined as follows by the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act:
(a) A transfer made or obligation incurred by a debtor is fraudulent as to a creditor, whether the creditor's claim arose before or after the transfer was made or the obligation was incurred, if the debtor made the transfer or incurred the obligation:
(1) with actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud any creditor of the debtor; or
(2) without receiving a reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the transfer or obligation, and the debtor:
(i) was engaged or was about to engage in a business or a transaction for which the remaining assets of the debtor were unreasonably small in relation to the business or transaction; or
(ii) intended to incur, or believed or reasonably should have believed that he [or she] would incur, debts beyond his [or her] ability to pay as they became due.