Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Maryland

Re: Impact of bankruptcy on property co-owned with siblings

The answer is the same as with regard to a bankruptcy in Virginia, so I'll restate my response to that question, with a few additional comments:

His interest in the account and the property will be an asset of the bankruptcy estate. The trustee will have the right to administer it, either by selling his interest in the property, partitioning the property (i.e., selling a portion of the acreage if it is susceptible to such actual partition), or seeking leave of court to sell the whole property and distribute the respective shares of the proceeds to the co-owners (to do the latter, he has to establish to the satisfaction of the court that the benefit to the bankruptcy estate outweighs the detriment to the co-owners). As for the account, the trustee would be entitled to his proportionate share of the account (this may be zero if you can establish that the others deposited into it and he didn't, but that would be your burden to prove).

Transferring the property or the account now could cause problems, as it would be a fraudulent transfer and recoverable if made within a year (and possibly more) of the filing. If in satisfaction of his debts to the co-owners, it could be treated as a preference rather than a fraudulent transfer, but it would still be recoverable if within 90 days of filing, and probably within a year of filing since you are family and thus insiders. And I assume his share of the property is worth substantially more than the $2800 he owes to the maintenance acct., so transferring the property in satisfaction of the debt would likely be deemed fraudulent.

There may be counter arguments, such as treating the whole thing as a partnership, which may allow netting of the assets and his liabilities to the partnership, but they would depend on the facts, and with only $2800 owed, netting is not worth all that much. You should seek competent Maryland bankruptcy counsel sooner rather than later. I practice in both MD and VA, so please let me know if I can be of assistance.