Tenants By Entireties Exemption

[DG1966]

All tenants by entireties property is exempt in Chapter 7 bankruptcy of one spouse if the debtor spouse and non-debtor spouse have no joint unsecured debt.

I live in Florida, Does this mean:

If I file by myself because I am solely responsible for ALL of the unsecured debt are all of our belongings / furniture / house / cars / cash / assets exempt because everything we own is jointly owned?

Am i misunderstanding this... or is this just NOT true???

[MSbklawyer]

All tenants by entireties property is exempt in Chapter 7 bankruptcy of one spouse if the debtor spouse and non-debtor spouse have no joint unsecured debt.

I live in Florida, Does this mean:

If I file by myself because I am solely responsible for ALL of the unsecured debt are all of our belongings / furniture / house / cars / cash / assets exempt because everything we own is jointly owned?

Am i misunderstanding this... or is this just NOT true???

First, on what are you basing your statement that "All tenants by entireties property is exempt in Chapter 7 bankruptcy of one spouse if the debtor spouse and non-debtor spouse have no joint unsecured debt" ? I agree with you . . . to a point, but for the sake of clarity, what is your basis for this?

[seFlaDude]

The property in question must meet certain characteristics,
joint ownership and control,
identical interest in the property,
the interest must have originated in the same instrument,
the interest must have commenced simultaneously,
the parties must have been married at the time they acquired the property, and
the surviving spouse will own the property after either spouse dies.

I don't believe cars are treated the same because they are titled as (Mr. and Mrs,) or (Mr. or Mrs) as far as a house it has to be titled to both of you as Tenants by Entireties at the time of purchase and bank accounts must be titled as Tenants by Entireties at the time you open the accounts, do not simply change an account from joint ownership to Tenants by Entireties, you must close that account and open a new one tilted as such,I am not a attorney nor is this legal advise, I have similar issues and this is what I have learned from my research, Here is a very informational website from a Florida Attorney, Hope this helps

http://www.alperlaw.com/joint_ownership.html

[SunshineGal]

For the house, you will generally see the deed titled as "Husband and Wife" in Florida, which is the same as TBE.

If the cars are titled "Mr. AND Mrs", it will be presumed TBE.

If the cars are titled "Mr OR Mrs", it's not.

Bank accounts will be presumed TBE UNLESS the signiture card offered TBE and another form of ownership was chosen. (such as joint tenants)