Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Wisconsin

No matter what you do with the money, there may be profound consequences during your bankruptcy. If you make gifts to relatives within a year of filing bankruptcy, the trustee can sue the relatives to recover them. That period can be extended to up to four years in some circumstances. My advice is that you immediately retain experienced bankruptcy counsel to come up with a plan before you file any type of bankruptcy. From your description, it appears that this money may not even be yours but rather something belonging to the children which you were given to hold in trust for them. If true (and if properly disclosed and documented), this could solve many potential problems. If it is indeed your money and not the children�s, you would need to declare as much as possible of it as exempt, which, in bankruptcy, allows you to retain any eligible asset. Any amounts exceeding available exemptions would need to be paid to creditors during your chapter 13 plan. My comments here are not legal advice, nor do they create an attorney client relationship between us. However, you are welcome to contact my office to discuss retaining me or to set up a free initial consultation at my office in Racine.