Gordon County, GA Bankruptcy Law Firms & Lawyers

The car in your mothers name is an asset of her bankruptcy estate. If it is fully paid off and there are not enough exemptions to cover the equity in the car, the bankruptcy trustee can take possession of the vehicle and liquidate it to pay off creditors. It is unlikely this will happen so long as your mother does not own any other valuable vehicles. The reason for this is there is a specific exemption statute the covers cars. Depending on which state she is in she may use state or federal exemptions. Depending on the state exemptions she may have between 3500 to aprox. 7500 of equity available to exempt. If the total aggregated value of all vehicles exceeds this, she may use the Wild card exemption to cover the balance if there is enough Wild card left. If she is out of exemptions, you may be out of a car. She can not transfer it to you without reasonable consideration (money generally). Otherwise it will appear to be a fraudulent conveyance. She can not sell it because the proceeds would become harder to exempt and also would be an asset of the estate. Unless there is some way or reason you can show a trustee why it is in her name the situation is untenable. Sorry. Thanks for tuning in!

In order to qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you must be able to pass the means test. This is a comparison of your income levels against the median income level for other people who are similarly situated in the area in which you live. If you don't meet the means test to file Chapter 7, and you have a regular income, then you may qualify to file for Chapter 13 - Wage Earner's petition.