Joint Tenants in California
My question involves bankruptcy in the state of: California
If I file individually for Chapter 13 and I own as a joint tenant with my domestic partner a rental property in another state (non community property there), how is that rental property treated? I make the entire mortgage payment and my partner makes none. Do I get to claim the entire payment as an expense? Must I state the entire rental income as my own, or do I get to list only one half of it? Is my partner's half of the property considered to be property of the estate? Do the property laws of the other state enter into the picture?
Sincerely, thank you
Re: Joint Tenants in California
If you hold equal rights to the property, I would expect that the trustee would regard you as liable for half of the expenses relating to the property and entitled to half of the rental income. If you are collecting the entire rental income, that would be reported and would increase your income but absent some form of binding, arm's-length contract about expenses and income from the property I would not expect that to affect the expectation that a co-owner would pay his share of the expenses. You should discuss the details of the co-ownership and possible approaches to the situation with a bankruptcy lawyer.