Transfer of a car

[Anonymous]

How long before filing BK 7 can a car be transferred into my name from mother that is ok? My mom wants to transfer a car into my name in August and I planned on filing BK 7 sometime but I did not want to mess this up. Any advice and feedback guidance is extremely appreciated.

It is an older car 2010 Cobalt with about 41k miles on it.

I do have a car already that is a 2013 Malibu with approx 144k miles. With about $4k left to pay on. It has some body damage to it from other cars dinging my car. 

[Anonymous]

If the transfer takes place prior to filing, it will be an asset you own. Will you be able to exempt it? If not, then you may want to reconsider this plan.

[Anonymous]

I read that the trustee at the MOC might ask if you had any transfers of anything X amount of time before filing BK? What is the time frame that X is? Like is X mean 6 months, 1 year? What is the time frame before filing BK that is okay to do a car transfer and it be ok? 

[Azuieldrago]

I would just wait. Best not rock the boat in terms of transferring (although they probably mean out of your name to hide assets). As stated above, thats another asset that "could" be taken from you. So for the sake of safety, I would wait until after discharge.

[ballysdad]

In my own case while filling out petiton I was asked had I transfered any property or vehicles to family or friends in the past 24 months. As stated above there are exemptions that can be used. A lawyer in your particular area should be able to easliy shed some light on that.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I read that the trustee at the MOC might ask if you had any transfers of anything X amount of time before filing BK? What is the time frame that X is? Like is X mean 6 months, 1 year? What is the time frame before filing BK that is okay to do a car transfer and it be ok? 

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So I think there's a disconnect here. The trustee in a CH7 case is trying to find assets that he or she can recover. The concern, in my non-attorney opinion, about a transfer out to others is that the transfers may be an attempt at giving away/hiding/protecting assets from being taken in bankruptcy. The transfer may also be preferential (paying off one creditor, or a family member, instead of all creditors fairly).

Here, you stated that you are considering obtaining title of a vehicle, and adding this car to your pool of assets. A rough check of NADA values suggests this car is worth $2k-$4k at the base trim. I am not aware of a timeframe that matters here. What's important is what you own at the time of filing. So if you own two cars, and can exempt them both based on your state's bankruptcy exemptions, then you're fine. There may or may not be questions about why you own two cars. 

If it were me, I would file with an attorney, and consult that attorney on any moves prior to filing. I would also probably not pursue taking title of this car until after your bankruptcy has concluded.