Car Surrender

[mom2crazies]

Here is another question I emailed my attorney about and I never heard back on.

We will most likely be surrendering our minivan (It exceeds the allowance). I am wondering if the trustee is required to give us our funds when the vehicle is surrendered, or when it is auctioned off.

If it's not until it is auctioned off, this could create major issues for us because we will be down to ONE car that the kids cannot ride in. We need the money back from the trustee before we can buy a cash car! We have just over $1k saved up from after we filed to possibly rent a car...Unless, he takes our rental deposit because I am sure we will have to pay that back right away!

I can't live without a car. We live in the boonies and I have to be able to pick up my daughter and son from school.

If you surrendered your car, how long did it take to get the exemption amount back?

[debtfreeindy]

This may vary from state to state, but I can't imagine the trustee would give you any money before the car is auctioned off, sorry. The exemption amount always comes from the net proceeds of sale after administration costs.

[ValleYum]

Couldn't you make payment arrangements with the trustee for the amount that your van's equity is over your exemption so that you could keep it?