Paid a Relative Money Recently? Here’s How to Fix It!

06 Apr Paid a Relative Money Recently? Here’s How to Fix It!

If you have recently repaid a relative for money you borrowed, your bankruptcy lawyer has probably told you that the trustee will attempt to get this money back from the relative to whom you paid it. This is because of Bankruptcy Code section 547, which allows the trustee to recover money repaid to a relative for a debt in the one year before a bankruptcy is filed.

No doubt this is an unpleasant idea — after all, who wants their relatives to be dragged into their bankruptcy case? No one, of course. Thankfully, however, there is an easy fix for this problem which is almost guaranteed to work: get the money back, then after you have received it, file the bankruptcy.

This works because of section 547(c)(4), which prevents the trustee from recovering a preferential repayment if the creditor has provided equivalent “new value” (which includes money) to the debtor after the repayment. Depending on the exemptions available to you in your bankruptcy case, you can either spend the money on necessary items before you file, or you can file bankruptcy while you still possess the funds and claim them exempt.

Be sure to list the relative as a creditor, if as a result of getting the money back you still owe a debt to that person.  Because the bankruptcy law allows you to repay a creditor after the case is finished, listing a relative in your bankruptcy doesn’t have to hurt them.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Craig W. Andresen, Esq.

Craig Andresen is a Minnesota bankruptcy attorney who represents both consumers and small business owners in chapter 7 and chapter 13 cases. With thirty years experience, Mr. Andresen is a frequent speaker on the topics of stopping mortgage foreclosures, and stripping off second mortgages in chapter 13. His office is located in Bloomington just across the street from the Mall of America. Call his office at (952) 831-1995 for a free consultation about protecting your rights using bankruptcy.

Latest posts by Craig W. Andresen, Esq. (see all)

• Judicial Estoppel: Medical Malpractice Claim Survives Omission From Bankruptcy Schedule A/B - January 27, 2019
• Bankruptcy Rule 3002.1: An Unlikely New Weapon Against Debtors - January 9, 2017
• Court Says Chapter 7 Debtor May Not Have Two Cases Pending at Same Time - December 12, 2016
• Unsettled Question: Another Court Rules That Bankruptcy Client Worksheets Are Privileged - February 6, 2016
• Chapter 13 Debtor’s Lawsuit Tossed Out for Failure to List It in Bankruptcy Documents - January 31, 2016