Levying Property

• When the court issues a debt judgment against you, the creditor can use a levy to take your property. At this point, the creditor can potentially levy any property that you own, unless it is prevented by state laws. Cars that you own can be seized by the creditor if they have enough equity in them to help pay off the debt once they are sold. The creditor can levy property even if someone owns it jointly with you.
  
  

Debtor's Share

• With most states, when a levy occurs, the sheriff takes only the portion of the property that belongs to the creditor. With a car, you can't really split it up and take only half of it. Because of this, the car will be levied and sold to repay the debt. If the car is sold and the entire debt is repaid, any remaining money could be given back to the son.
  
  

Stopping the Sale

• In some states, those who are not liable for the debt can stop the levy and sale of the property if they are willing to put up a bond sufficient to pay for the debt. By doing this, the son could potentially stop the sale of the property and continue using it as long as he is willing to personally guarantee that the debt will be repaid by the father within a certain period of time.
  
  

Fraudulent Transfer

• If you are worried about losing the car to creditors, you may be tempted to try to remove your name from the property and transfer it wholly to your son. While you could try to do this, the court will usually find out about it. If this is discovered, the court could hold you responsible for a fraudulent transfer. This is against the law and you could have charges brought against you for trying to beat the judgment fraudulently.