Joint bank account

[Tman]

I haven't posted for a while but am getting to the point of no return and will probably be filing a Chapter 7 soon. Here is my situation. I have $35K in cc debt and I am self employed. My wife has a car loan (I am the co-signor) and one CC. We own a house and have a first and second mortgage. The mortgages are in both our names and are current and we intend to stay in our house. My wife's car and CC are current and she is not going to file. I will be the only one filing. I have a business checking account in my name. My wife and I have a personal checking account which I use for my personal use. We also have have another joint personal checking account with another bank, which my wife uses for her personal account. My daughter has a savings account with that same bank in her name, but I have to sign to allow her her to withdraw the money (it is for college). My question is - should I take my name off of my wife's and daughter's accounts? Should I have my wife's name removed from my account. None of the accounts have any real money in them. My personal account runs from $500 to near $0 thru the month and the same with my wife's. My daughter's account has only about $500 in it.

[LadyInTheRed]

It sounds like your daughter's account is a custodial account or trust account. It should not be a problem. The money is hers and you act as a fiduciary. Make sure this is the case and that it is not a joint account.

For the joint account your wife uses, let the balance go to zero, close it and have your wife open a new account for all future deposits. Removing your name from an existing account could be seen as a preferential transfer to your wife. Having your wife's name on "your" account shouldn't make any difference if you consider that entire amount as yours anyway. If you are in an state with limited exemptions, file on a date when the balance in your account is low.

[Tman]

I am in Ohio. Does anybody know if there is a look back period for bank accounts. As I've said there isn't really any money in any of the accounts. I just don't want to tie up my wife's and daughter's accounts if I don't have to.

[seFlaDude]

As posted by ladyinthered, you are best to close old accounts and open entirely new ones, if any of your currents debts are with your current banks I would definitely change banks, also if you are with Wells Fargo/Wachovia they will freeze the accounts