Asset questions in Chap. 7

[Gossamer427]

Hi. I'm planning to file my Chap. 7 fairly quickly. I've consulted with several attys and selected one I trust. I have a question regarding non-exempt assets.

I have a few guns with lots of sentimental value, but little pawn shop value. Do you think that the trustee will allow me to purchase them back?

I also have an enclosed car trailer that has a wholesale value of roughly $3000. My daily driver is an '83 Chevy pickup that is killing me in gasoline and maintence. My parents offered to trade me one of their cars for the trailer, the car has a KBB value of $3000 also. It would be a title for title swap.

I am scared to death of attracting the trustees attention, I just want this over with with as few complications as possible. I have no intention of committing fraud throughout this ordeal.

IF that seems to be a bad idea, what are the chances that the trustee would allow me to buy back my trailer? I'd like to keep it if possible.

Thanks for any advice!

[justbroke]

The Trustee would LOVE to take your money; seriously! I would avoid property transfers, especially between insiders (family and friends) so as not to cause suspicion. Of course, if it's for equal value, there is not problem but the appearance of a problem may certainly make the Trustee more "interested" in the details. Besides, you'd then have two cars and may have trouble exempting both (this is just me talking out loud without looking at any available exemptions).

Hopefully, your weapons fit within your exemptions and you won't need to purchase them from the Trustee.

[Gossamer427]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm leaning more towards your logic and not doing anything untoward even if it turned out to be on the up and up. I don't have an issue with buying back my non-exempt assets, I just am really hoping that I get the opportunity to do it. After an unexpected divorce, a job loss and a short sale on my home, I'm ready to start over and an expediant BK will be a good start I hope.

[AngelinaCat]

Regarding your guns: take the pawn shop purchase value and let it go at that. The trustee will either accept the amount on your paperwork, or may offer you the chance to 'buy them back from the BK estate', if you aren't able to exempt them.

We have a few old guns, and the matter was explained this way to us: There is the 'real' value--what the gun would sell for if you try to sell it. In our case, our weapons are 'vintage'--they are old, some with low digit serial numbers. But modern weapons collectors do not want them, as they were not designed to handle the modern caliber ammunition, and they fear that one of these will explode.

Next, if they are 'vintage', are they 'historic'? You might have a piece wherein the 'family story' says that this gun was at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Okay, so what? Do you have paperwork to prove it? No. An interesting piece, but no real value as a collectible.

If you have the paper trail proving that the gun was General Custer's, and was at the Little Big Horn, then you have a treasure. But that happens very seldom.

Good luck to you!

[Gossamer427]

No, no civil war survivors among my collection. More like the elk rifle I bought with my summer earnings the first year I could hunt and the .22 my dad bought me when I turned 10 and a couple of others along those same lines. Like I said I don't have a problem paying for them, I just want to make sure that I get that opportunity. So should I take them to a pawn shop and ask them how much they'll give me for them or do I need a 'better' i.e. professional valuation from an actual gun shop?

Thank you!

[AngelinaCat]

No. The pawn shop should do, because they deal with guns on an every-day basis. That will be more reliable, than you trying to set a yard sale price. Think of what you might have to do, and how small a price you would settle for if you had to raise cash in a hurry.