If we have judgements against us, canwe use aninheritance to buy a home in our minor daughter’s name?
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If we have judgements against us, canwe use aninheritance to buy a home in our minor daughter’s name?
We also have bad credit and are facing foreclosure. We would put the house in her name and we would be the trustees.
Asked on September 24, 2010 under Real Estate Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
Definitely speak with a lawyer before doing anything. There are a number of possible risks to this idea, not least of which is if the transfers are seen as fraudulent on your creditors, it may be possible for them to reach the house you buy notwithstanding that it is in a trust or a minor's name. Since the inheritance would presumably be yours, and since you'd be controlling the home even after it was purchased (e.g. as trustees; as parents of the minor), I could easily see creditors alleging and proving that this was a pretextual transfer, designed to try to hide assets which you are still controlling. In addition, you need advice on the tax consequences of any such action. So the short answer is that this is risky idea--if it was this easy to avoid creditors, everyone would do it--but you should consult in detail with trusts and estates attorney to better understand what options you may have.
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