I've been thinking about bankruptcy since I was one day late on a credit card payment and my monthly payment has tripled. I'm self employeed and my work has come to a stand still. With my current earnings just keeping the utilties on is difficult. I have a paid for doublewide with an additional 1.5 acre piece of property beside it. Earlier this year I transferred another piece of property into my father in laws name. This home had a recorded lien on it from him from almost 2 years ago and we basically surrendered the property back to him. Our initial plan was to sell this home, take the equity and pay off debt, but low and behold the real estate market bombed. It's since went into a trust where my spouse is the beneficiary. I'm in NC and have read about tenancy by entirety. The debt is solely in my name and we have no joint accounts. If I file alone will our property be exempt? Would this transfer of our old property raise a red flag, even with a recorded lien for more than the tax value of the home? If so, how long should I wait to file?
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NC does honor TBE, but only on real estate, not bank accounts, so you should be fine, however a new deed must be drawn up to read xxxx, and xxx, husband and wife, as tenants by the entirety...or similar wording. That should protect you in BK no matter what the exemption amount is. You might want to do it at least a year before the BK, so as not to give any allusions of fraud. But beware, I have heard that TBE also only works if it is done at the INCEPTION of the receipt of land/real estate, i.e. upon first purchase...so you might want to check to see if TBE is even an option for you.
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