engagement/wedding ring gift

[badappleface]

Hi, I am filing chapter 7 and have my 341 meeting soon. I am very scared right now because I am very afraid that they are going to take my wife's engagement/wedding ring away. I live in Oregon and jewelry exemption is only 1800. My wedding ring is 1000$ so that is covered, however her engagement ring is $2400 and wedding ring is $1000. I filing individual as I filed before we were married so she has nothing to do with the bk. I purchased these in feb 2010 before I even made decision to file for bk. I had to use a portion of my student loans to purchase these, something i did not care to do but only way that I would of been able to purchase these at the moment. My attorney is aware of this and he said that due to the nature of the gift that I should not be concerened however it does not appear that Oregon has specific exemptions on wedding/engagement rings and that they are fair game to the trustee.

Will the trustee be able to take this away from my wife? If so what options might I possibly have? Anyone experienced this?

[debee]

Are those values what you paid for the rings, or what you could get for them on Craigslist or at a pawn shop?

[badappleface]

They were actual values. I was just reading through this site and have determined i should of valued them at pawn shop prices = (

[badappleface]

Also since oregon is not a community property state are her rings considered her property now?

[debee]

I asked about valuation because that's something I know, but the other things are out of my depth. Hang tight and someone else will hopefully respond to this thread.

I don't think it's too late for you to amend your schedules though and put in the correct the value of the rings. Take all three to a pawnshop.

I imagine hers is listed in Form B7 as a gift aggregating over $200 to family member? I believe the trustee does have the ability to go after any gifts (cash or otherwise) within the last year but your lawyer is going to have personal experience with this trustee and will likely know what he/she is going to go after. Trust that but take a second look at how you valued your property and if you made other mistakes elsewhere. You'll want to get that sorted out.

[tcreegan]

Hi badappleface,

I think this is your get-out-of-jail-free card:

I had to use a portion of my student loans to purchase these

You took a non-dischargeable asset and moved it to someone outside the BK. No fraud there, you still owe the non-dischargeable debt.

Please tell me you did not list it as an asset in your case.........if you did it is time to amend schedules...

The worst case scenario is the trustee claiming the portion of student loans not used for educational expenses is income. To be prepared for this, rework your means-test with the $3400 averaged in see if you can still come up with a negative DMI (disposable monthly income)

BUT...not all trustee/districts use any of student loans as income (which makes sense b/c it is non-dischargeable anyhow) Ask your attorney what is the case in your district.

I think your wife is OK, they aren't going to take the rings off her finger. It might be a money issue on your BK but I think your lawyer can easily side-step the issue.

Hang in there!

Tom in Colo

[backtoschool]

Hi badappleface,

I think this is your get-out-of-jail-free card:

I had to use a portion of my student loans to purchase these

You took a non-dischargeable asset and moved it to someone outside the BK. No fraud there, you still owe the non-dischargeable debt.

Please tell me you did not list it as an asset in your case.........if you did it is time to amend schedules...

The worst case scenario is the trustee claiming the portion of student loans not used for educational expenses is income. To be prepared for this, rework your means-test with the $3400 averaged in see if you can still come up with a negative DMI (disposable monthly income)

BUT...not all trustee/districts use any of student loans as income (which makes sense b/c it is non-dischargeable anyhow) Ask your attorney what is the case in your district.

I think your wife is OK, they aren't going to take the rings off her finger. It might be a money issue on your BK but I think your lawyer can easily side-step the issue.

Hang in there!

Tom in Colo

Student loans are not income. They are a cash asset if the money is sitting in the bank. If the filer is fiing individually only and is not in a community property state, then the ring should be fine.