Recent Updates
April 28, 2010
State Must Prove Defendant's Knowledge of Driver's License Suspension
April 13, 2010
Sentencing Commission Votes to Eliminate Recent Criminal History Points
October 15, 2009
Consent to search inside of vehicle does not extend to locked containers
October 14, 2009
Making phone calls to get drugs for personal use not a felony
October 07, 2009
Duval County schools agree to reduce number of students getting arrested
Car is in my name, but son makes the payments
January 05, 2009
Topic: Bankruptcy
Recently a potential client brought up a point which is a common issue we hear about from clients. The client has a son whose car is in the client's name, but the son makes the payment. The client believed that despite the fact that the car was titled in the client's name, a trustee in a bankruptcy proceeding would not be able to demand equity from the vehicle or sell the vehicle to raise money for unsecured creditors because the vehicle was being used by the son.
This simply is not the case. If the vehicle is titled in a client's name, the client owns the vehicle. When a bankruptcy estate is created, the trustee takes possessions of all of the debtors possessions. Additionally a debtor must disclose all transfers that were completed within a year of the filing of personal property. Therefore, the vehicle likely will be part of the bankruptcy estate. This, coupled with the fact that having the vehicle in client's name exposes the client to liability if the vehicle is in an accident, points out the fact that titling a vehicle in the parent's name is not a good idea.
