Chapter 7 - Asset Case - Question

[frogger]

I'm not going to be hypothetical, however I am going to beat around the bush a little with this post. The names have been changed, but the story is the same.

Presume for a moment that I own a high dollar horse. As of the date of my filing, December 8, 2009, the high dollar horse became an asset of my estate since I am an asset case. Therefore, since December 8, I am only the caretaker of said high dollar horse (since the horse is now property of the estate).

With that being said, when it comes time for the trustee to do "something" with this high dollar horse, who is responsible for the feed, vet bills, and maintenance of that horse from filing date until the date the horse is either purchased back or given up?

Some of you may know that it's more expensive to maintain a horse than it is a wife, and these $$$ are coming out of my pocket.

The responsibility to keep the asset alive appears to have been on me. I have done that, I have spent money on an asset that I no longer own, and if I don't want to buy it back, who's stuck with the feed/vet bill?

[helpmeout]

Probably you. Just like I am responsible for the insurance on my house plus all of the utilities associated with it until the bank changes title and I can move out.

[BobMango]

In my experience, I had a small herd of cattle worth about $12-$15K, I only had room to exempt about $4K of their value.

The trustee was not interested in taking them since he'd have to pay their exempt value, then house and feed them until he was able to sell them. My understanding of the discussion between attorney and trustee was that once the trustee made a decision to take them, he would have been responsible for their feed, care and housing.

So to answer your question, think of it like a car, you still need to put gas in and change the oil while the trustee decides if you get to keep it. I think the same thing applies here, I think the vets just charge more than the garages!