The call comes in quite frequently. A creditor finally gets a judgment. He goes to collect. The debtor has nothing. Empty accounts, empty balance sheet, empty story. But the debtor’s wife is suddenly on the deed to the commercial property. The debtor’s son is suddenly operating the same business out of the same building. The debtor’s brother is suddenly the holder of a recorded lien against the only asset that mattered. The judgment is for a million dollars and there is nothing to execute against.
The creditor calls us and the conversation runs about the same way every time. He starts out despondent. He thinks he just lost. Fifteen minutes in he understands what we are about to explain here.
The debtor did him a favor.
By moving those assets to the people closest to him, the debtor turned a one-defendant case into a four-defendant case. The wife who took the deed is now exposed. The son who took over the business is now exposed. The brother who recorded the lien is now exposed. Each of them holds something they will be required to account for. The original debtor still owes the money, but he is no longer the only path to recovery, and frequently no longer the most important path.
That is what Texas fraudulent transfer law does. It lets a creditor reach back into the transactions a debtor used to hide assets, undo them, and pursue everyone who touched them. We are a collections firm. We have been doing this work in Dallas since 1994. The fraudulent transfer cases are some of the most satisfying matters on our docket, because they are the ones where a debtor who thought he had won discovers he made it worse.
A fraudulent transfer is what happens when a debtor moves an asset out of a creditor’s reach. The asset goes to a spouse, a relative, or a friendly business, usually for less than it is worth, or with the plain intent to keep the creditor from collecting. In Texas the law that governs this is the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, better known as TUFTA.
The rest of this site walks through how the law actually operates. What a transfer is. Who counts as a creditor and who counts as an insider. How a court decides whether the value was fair, and what happens when it was not. What remedies a court can enter. How bankruptcy, divorce, and Ponzi schemes overlap with fraudulent transfer work. The pages are organized in the sidebar from the basics to the situation-specific. Most readers find the answer to the question they came in with somewhere in the first three or four pages they open.
What We Do for Creditors
We represent creditors. Not debtors. Creditors.
If you are owed money and the person who owes it has been moving assets around to avoid paying you, that is the whole of what we do. We go after the debtor. We also go after the people the debtor handed assets to. The spouse on the new deed. The son running the same business out of the same building. The brother holding a convenient lien. Under TUFTA, every one of them can be made to answer for the transfer.
We take the case through judgment and through collection. If the debtor files bankruptcy, we do not hand the file off. We follow the matter into bankruptcy court and keep protecting the creditor there.
Why Cook Keith & Davis
We have been collecting for creditors in Texas since 1994. Fifteen lawyers, one focus: getting money out of debtors who would rather you gave up.
Fraudulent transfer work is its own discipline. It is not general litigation. It is not consumer debt collection. It runs on badges of fraud, alter ego, successor liability, turnover orders, and writs of attachment, and on knowing which of those tools fits the facts in front of you. That is the work we do, out of our office in Dallas.
Who We Represent
Our clients are businesses and lenders owed real money, with a Texas connection somewhere in the case. A debtor here, an asset there, a transfer that touched down in Texas. We do not represent debtors, and we do not take consumer matters. We work one side of the table: yours.
If you would rather just talk through your situation with a lawyer, the phone number is 214-368-4686. We answer the phone. The first call is straightforward. You tell us what is going on. We tell you whether you have something worth pursuing.
A judgment is merely a piece of paper until somebody actually collects on it. That is the part we do.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a fraudulent transfer under Texas law?
It is when a debtor moves an asset out of a creditor's reach, either for less than the asset is worth or with the intent to keep the creditor from collecting. Texas handles it through the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, known as TUFTA.
What is TUFTA?
TUFTA is the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, found in Chapter 24 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code. It gives creditors the tools to undo transfers a debtor made to dodge a debt and to pursue the people who received the assets.
Do I need a judgment before I can pursue a fraudulent transfer claim?
No. If somebody owes you money you can sue under TUFTA. A judgment helps, but it is not required.
Can I really sue the person the debtor gave the asset to?
Yes. The transferee is personally liable for the value of what they received. The wife who took the deed, the brother who took the business, the friend who took the cash. All of them can end up with a money judgment against them, enforceable against their own assets.
What if the transfer happened years ago?
Texas gives you four years from the transfer date, or one year from when you discovered it, whichever is later. Older transfers are reachable more often than people expect.
Will the debtor go to jail?
Fraudulent transfer cases under TUFTA are civil matters, not criminal ones. The remedy is money and unwinding transfers, not prosecution.
What does the first call cost?
Nothing. We talk through the facts with you, give you our honest read, and explain what a case would look like if you decided to move forward.
A word of caution. The Texas fraudulent transfer statutes are complicated, and we have written these pages to explain them in plain English. To do that we have glossed over some exceptions and edge cases. Every situation has its own facts. Use this site to get your bearings, but talk to a lawyer before you make a decision.
The Texas Fraudulent Transfer Statutes are complicated affairs. These pages are meant to explain the law in terms that are as simple as we can make them. Sometimes we have ignored limited exceptions and other quirks in the law so that the general concepts could be conveyed clearly. Your situation needs to be carefully analyzed. No two situations are identical and you need legal advice before making an important decision. Use this website as a guide only.