What are some of the things that you should avoid before filing bankruptcy? I want to go into these because in the recent Georgia case, a woman was ordered to pay more than $8,000 back to the Chapter 7 trustee in her case. Some of the things that you should not do before filing bankruptcy would be, for example, to make large purchases. You should not be going out there and buying a brand new vehicle or a lot of furniture or things of that nature just before filing bankruptcy.
You also should not be transferring large amounts of property to anyone prior to filing bankruptcy. For example, you shouldn’t be conveying the title in your house to your spouse if she’s not filing or he’s not filing. You should not be transferring any vehicles to any family members or relatives unless the family member or relative pays for the vehicle info as to what the actual value is. You can’t sell a $10,000 vehicle to a family member for $3,000. That’s known as a badge of fraud transaction.
Also, as much as you want to, you should not be repaying any debts of old family members. There are exceptions to that. For example, if you have actual loan documents and canceled checks to prove that it was an actual loan to a family member, that would be a different circumstance but unless you have that type of documentation, you should not make those transfers. Please call me at 770-792-1000.