Everybody loves their rich uncle. And awful lot of us love him even more when he’s dead.

That’s right – we just said what you were all thinking.

I mean, he’s a fun guy and all, but fun don’t pay the rent. But an inheritance sure does!

There’s even a loan place named “Tio Rico.” If you don’t know what that means, look it up on Google. But you’re sharp – I’ll bet you can figure it out.

Serious as a Heart Attack

In all seriousness, it’s a sad day when a family member passes away. Receiving an inheritance from someone is little consolation for their loss.

If you’re thinking about bankruptcy, most factors considered by the court are only addressed in retrospect. The bankruptcy trustee is looking at your filing date and going backwards from there.

For example, if you get a big raise after filing for bankruptcy, that income does not affect your bankruptcy. The trustee is only looking at your income from the date of filing and back into the past. What happens in the future has no bearing on your case.

But the court will be on the lookout for a couple of things that may happen to you after filing.

Serious as a Heart Attack

If you receive an inheritance within one year after filing your bankruptcy, it can be taken by the court and used to pay off your creditors. You’ll only receive the leftovers.

If you’ve got a lot of debt, and you’re getting a big inheritance, that could mean the loss of a lot of money.

There’s no Easy way Out

There may be no way to anticipate getting an inheritance. It’s a sad fact of life that anyone can die at any time. But, if you do anticipate receiving an inheritance within a year of filing for bankruptcy, you may want to reconsider filing in the first place. A visit with an experienced bankruptcy attorney can answer that question for sure. He or she will crunch the numbers to determine if it will be worth filing for bankruptcy even when an inheritance is on the horizon.