Divorce and chapter 7

[Buckeye060]

I'd like to tell my story and get back some feedback, if possible.
My wife and I currently own a home that was just appraised at 135K. We own it free and clear.
I have unsecured debt of 70K.(Wife WAS unaware of this). I finally fessed up to this last week. She is livid and hurt at the same time. She obviously thinks she can't trust me anymore.
I looked into a home equity loan. Terms were 6.49% and payment of $640 per month. She's not sure if she wants to go along with this. In Ohio, where we live, she needs to sign the mortgage.
She has mentione divorce on a couple of occasions, which leads me to believe that is the path we are going to go down.
My question is, if I give her my share of the house as part of a divorce settlement, could I be a candidate for a Chapter 7?
I own a 97 Ford 150 outright and a 2006 300C that I owe about 13K on. These are my only other assets.

[Buckeye060]

Any input, from anyone???

[soleprop]

i'm sorry buckeye, i read your post earlier and it just made me sad. i wish i knew anything to tell you but i'm a pro se filer that is still waiting for the first step to happen - i don't know much. the standard advice everyone gets here is to have a free consult with a couple of bk lawyers to get your feet wet; and i hope that someone more knowledgeable than me happens by!

good luck.

[cupcake]

I am pretty new around here so I don't think I am qualified to be giving any advice. I can offer lots of support but not much advice, I'm afraid.

Just so I understand correctly, are you suggesting that in the divorce settlement your wife be awarded all of the equity in your home so that you don't lose it if you file CH 7? If so, it seems to make sense but I am not sure about the legality of doing that. Plus, if she's really pissed at you, you may be forever giving up your half, you know?

I am really sorry that you have to go through this. I just filed for divorce last week so I can relate to how much stress you are under. It's bad enough dealing with one or the other; dealing with both issues together and at the same time is a nightmare.

[danaf]

I think it could be done as long as you don't file for a long time, ie a few yrs. But I'd check with some attorneys. This has to do with insider transfers. For sure, you could not do this and then immediately file.

[southernbelle]

I'm not sure 100%, but if you guys were to divorce before filing and sold the house and divided up the proceeds, you could be a candidate for chapter 7 but keep in mind that the Trustee will want to know what happened with your portion of the money if you sell the house outright. If you decide to invest a portion of it in IRA's and buy another house you might be okay, but keep in mind that you must keep a very good paper trail to prove your expenses in a bankruptcy. I would talk to a couple of divorce and bankruptcy attorneys first then decide because I've been through something similar, but not nearly as complicated on the divorce issue.

Also the Mean's test on www.legalconsumer.com might help you toss around some numbers with different scenario's. Good luck.