If I’m filing for bankruptcy and a signer on my parents accounts, can I just have my parents take my name off the accounts?
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If I’m filing for bankruptcy and a signer on my parents accounts, can I just have my parents take my name off the accounts?
My parents are retired and travel a lot so I am on their checking and savings accounts as an owner in case of emergency. They have over $5000 combined between the 2 accounts. I am an adult with no dependency on them. I don’t want them to be impacted by my bankruptcy so if I have them take my name off of these accounts will my filing impact them in any way?
Asked on January 8, 2012 under Bankruptcy Law, Illinois
Answers:
MD, Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If you take your name off of these accounts, it should help but the timing of when you file for bankruptcy and when you take your name off will impact your bankruptcy filing. You do not want the trustee or worse (creditors) to latch on or your freeze your parents' assets because they figured out you at one point in time co-owned their bank accounts. So the best bet at this stage is to get your name off of the accounts, arrange for a different way to deal with their issues should anything happen to them (think wills and trusts) and talk to a bankruptcy attorney about your next steps in filing.
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