View Full Version : Before I file bankruptcy, what do I do about debt owed to father?
perezeddie
Feb 1, 2009, 01:41 PM
I have been paying my father $500 a month for the past year for a personal loan I owe him. I am about to file chapter 7. We make over $75k but have a tremendous amunt of unsecured debt. I assume the trustee will look at bank statements from the past year. When they see I have been paying my father but not my other creditors, will they come after him for past payments that I have paid him?
George_1950
Feb 1, 2009, 02:20 PM
The issue you address is call a "preference". Check this: "Unlike fraudulent conveyances, which often can not be undone, avoidable preferences can often be “fixed” before a bankruptcy. The issue sometimes arises when a debtor pays back a family member before a bankruptcy case. This is unwise because if a bankruptcy case is filed within a year of the transfer, the trustee can avoid it by taking the money back from the family member and distributing it to creditors in accordance with the priorities of the bankruptcy code."
Undoing Preferences before a Bankrupcty : Bankruptcy Law Network (http://www.bankruptcylawnetwork.com/2008/10/14/undoing-preferences-before-a-bankrupcty/)
Make certain you are getting competent legal advice.
Fr_Chuck
Feb 1, 2009, 06:34 PM
First they don't have to look at the records, since you will have to list your father as a non secured creditor ( unless the debt is secured and it would be listed as such)
So you will list each debt, the amount owed and when the last payment was made on all of the debts.
So they don't have to "find it" you will be required to furnish all of the info
perezeddie
Feb 5, 2009, 02:31 PM
Fr chuck, and then what