Florida Middle District rural with contiguous lots

[altoonatown]

With all my searching I haven't been able to find an answer to this complex question. We live rural and over 5 years ago did family lot splits to include 2 (1) one acre parcels with manufactured homes on them. We have owned the property for over 20 years and the new lots were never out of our name. The two manufactured homes provide income each month. We are filing Chapter 7 and will be an assest case. What is the likelyhood that the BK Trustee will see value in a "91 singlewide and a "95 doublewide?
Our only income was from the real estate rentals and SSD & SS. We paid off the homestead over 6 months ago and that included the 2 contiguous lots. We're probably going to loose most everything else but wondered if they would see much value in the manufactured homes to put them to auction??? Has anyone had experience with this?

I also care for my elderly mother and my name is on the checking account with hers. Is this a problem and would it be smart to close the account and distance myself from anything with my name and her name jointly??

Never thought in a million years we'd be facing this as seniors

[AngelinaCat]

With all my searching I haven't been able to find an answer to this complex question. We live rural and over 5 years ago did family lot splits to include 2 (1) one acre parcels with manufactured homes on them. We have owned the property for over 20 years and the new lots were never out of our name. The two manufactured homes provide income each month.

Greetings Altoonatown. Welcome to the forum. I have been pondering your main question long and hard since I first saw it. But as you gave very little real information, I need to ask some questions.

Regarding these lots. When you say that you did 'family lot splits', please explain EXACTLY what that means. Did you have a surveyor come and draw the lines and have new legal descriptions made up? Were these new legals filed at your county's courthouse? Your answer to those two questions will determine which direction I go from there.

Please also explain what you mean by "We paid off the homestead over 6 months ago and that included the 2 contiguous lots."

Does this mean that you have paid off what you owe on the five acres, as a whole? Or are you somehow confusing Florida's Homestead Exemption laws with paying off your balance due on that property?

In my opinion, if this five acre tract of land has NOT been legally subdivided, and the new legal descriptions not recorded in your courthouse, you own five acres of undivided land. If you are renting the two mobile homes--again assuming the land has NOT been legally subdivided--you are renting to 'guests'. This should not be a problem.

If you have applied for the Homestead Exemption, and gotten it, and the five acres have NOT been legally subdivided, then you have a good chance of exempting it, including the improvements, i.e., the mobile homes that are attached to it.

Again, without answers to the first two questions I asked, this is only a guess. If in fact, the land HAS been legally subdivided and split, you could very well have a problem. You need to consult a competent land attorney as well as a BK attorney.

Please be sure that you are in compliance with your local zoning restrictions for your area.

I also care for my elderly mother and my name is on the checking account with hers. Is this a problem and would it be smart to close the account and distance myself from anything with my name and her name jointly??

If you have an attorney that you can trust, I would ask this of him/her. A joint account can get you into trouble, but I would hate to have you close it just yet. Do you have a Durable Family Power of Attorney for your Mom? If you do not, get one NOW!

A regular Power of Attorney will 'die' the minute your Mom becomes disabled and cannot speak for herself. A Durable Family Power or Attorney overrides that and will let you handle her affairs, even when she does--God forbid--become unable to speak for herself. I learned this the hard way when my Mother came down with Alzheimers.

Never thought in a million years we'd be facing this as seniors

I heard/read that!!!! Good luck to you. Please keep us posted.

[altoonatown]

I'm sorry it's disjointed....we own 10 acres and we had 2 (1) parcels surveyed and recorded in the lake courthouse over 5 years ago. The remaining 8 acres we built a home on beginning in '08. Our entire retirement was based on real estate investments but that has not proven to be the wisest choice. We live a very modest lifestyle and very conservative...even without vacations...shame on us for not taking time for us....but now with the market having taken such a downturn we owe more than we could ever recover in our lifetime....i am disabled and my husband is retired....we used to be able to manage maintenance ourselves but find it nearly impossible now to do some of the necessary yard work....we paid the mortgage off to the 10 acres over 6 months ago as we planned but with vacant units (we own 4 additional homes (one just sold this past weekend on a short sale) and one is vacant and the other two are tenant occupied and are all listed as shortsales.....we pass th means test and i'm thankful there but there seems to be some question as to whether we'd keep the mobile homes in front of our house...our attorney is very sharp and i trust what he says...and he's confident that he can get these to fly with the homestead....of course we'll loose everything else but that's just the way it is...i

i would like someone to help me figure out what is reasonable to spend money on....am frozen in place for fear of spending it on the wrong thing....food.dental, medical.....i get all that but what about unforseen medical how do they determine this

we just didn't expect we'd be trying to make it by in the golden years so now we need insight....getting it right the first time will elliminate frustration and you have no idea how strung out i am over this wholemess