How do you protect yourself from losing assets like a car in a chapter 7? 20 Answers as of March 05, 2012

You need to exempt it.

You are about to commit financial and legal suicide. Do not ruin your life and file pro se. Exemptions and keeping (or losing) vehicles is something that you will mess up without legal help. Save yourself from disaster. Abandon your pro se plans, and get a lawyer. It will save you money.

You are allowed to exempt certain assets and a good atty can help you maximize your exemptions.

You must tell the bankruptcy court that you will have the car as an asset. If you are able to keep the car or not will depend on your specific case. Bankruptcy chapter 7 allows an automobile exemption of up to $1000 but you have an additional $3000 if you do not have homestead property. Now, it can only go towards one automobile. Sometimes the bankruptcy court may allow a little more if that's the only automobile that you have. Bankruptcy cases, although they may seem very easy, involved complicated laws and you are probably better of hiring counsel to represent you. There may be more to your case than you think there is and it may back fire on you. At least, you should have a one on one consultation with an attorney to make sure you are safe to file. It will cost you more later for an attorney to jump in and fix it, if thing could be fixed. The above is just a suggestion and shall not be construed as legal advice.

I am sorry. But you do not deserve advice if you are filing pro se. You are bound to screw it up, no matter how much help you get.

You need to become familiar with California exemption laws. You also need to know what the exact value of the vehicle is. Probably better to see an attorney and make sure this is done right.

You can only exempt a $3500.00 interest in a motor vehicle in a Chapter 7 case.

If you have enough exemptions that you are entitled to, then you may be able to keep your car.

Interesting question. Since the car is not technically yours, under the facts you set forth, you would not list it as an asset. However, one of the questions you must answer is whether you expect an inheritance. The answer is obviously that you do expect one. So, the trustee could claim the car/inheritance. The rules are complicated. However, if you are in Nebraska, and you DO own the car, there are certain exemption that apply. For example, if you use the car to go to and from work, it is a tool of the trade, and you can exempt up to $2,400 in value. You can also use other exemptions. Bankruptcy is a complicated area of law. If you don't know what you are doing with exemptions you will likely lose things that you could otherwise keep. Many times a Probate is not needed if the Estate is small and the car could be transferred, making it yours.

I don't give advice to pro se filers, like a dentist would not give advice to people who want to do their own root canals. Bankruptcy is tricky and asset protection and use of exemptions is an art.