Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Pennsylvania

Bankruptcy & transfer of Home Ownership

I currently own my home (no mortgage)with my life partner. I have OK income,but I have extensive credit card debt ($40k) and am looking into filing bankruptcy. We are contemplating transferring full ownership of the house to my partner (he would leave it to me in his will). Note that I have absolutely no concern he would leave me homeless in the meantime. Would the bankruptcy judge consider this an illegal or ill-advised manuever when considering my case and require me to pay most of the debt anyway? Would it be wiser to make other arrangements to pay off the debt?


Asked on 8/10/04, 12:58 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Re: Bankruptcy & transfer of Home Ownership

The bankruptcy court will look at transfer of assets to avoid paying debt. It also looks at income to see if you have enough to warrant a Chapter 13 debt reorganization rather than a Chapter 7 debt elimination.

In addition to this, transfer of title to your home would be risky, even if things seem stable. (Attorneys always consider everything that can go wrong.) Besides that, there would be estate tax on transfer of the property back to you under the will.

This is general information for discussion purposes. Please feel free to contact me if you want to discuss forming an attorney-client relationship.

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Answered on 8/11/04, 8:21 am


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