What to bring?

[spanky]

Our 341 is scheduled for March 18 (about three weeks from now). We haven't received any requests from the Trustee so far. We already sent in our 2008 Income Tax return and updated pay stubs.

What other paperwork should we be planning to bring to the 341? Obviously, we'll bring our ID and Social Security cards.

We have a no asset case, no house, etc. filing in California. I'm hoping it's going to be pretty straightforward but we're filing pro se so I want to be prepared.

The NOLO book suggests proof of monthly expenses. What would that be exactly? Stuff to support our means test or the schedule J?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[fireworks]

Our 341 is scheduled for March 18 (about three weeks from now). We haven't received any requests from the Trustee so far. We already sent in our 2008 Income Tax return and updated pay stubs.

What other paperwork should we be planning to bring to the 341? Obviously, we'll bring our ID and Social Security cards.

We have a no asset case, no house, etc. filing in California. I'm hoping it's going to be pretty straightforward but we're filing pro se so I want to be prepared.

The NOLO book suggests proof of monthly expenses. What would that be exactly? Stuff to support our means test or the schedule J?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

<insert standard disclaimer about state-to-state differences, I filed in Texas>

Our trustee requested our 2008 and 2009 tax returns, copies of all vehicle titles, copies of any contracts regarding homes that we've sold or put up for sale in the last 2 years. bank statements and IRA statements. I brought those items as well as the contract on our car loan that we're re-affirming, printouts from NADA showing the value of our cars, 2009 W-2 and 1099 forms (since we haven't filed our tax return yet) and a huge stack of business documentation (P&L statements, balance sheets, contracts on our outstanding accounts receivable). The trustee glanced over the tax return but didn't look at the rest of the paperwork.

Better safe than sorry, I say. I had a stack of file folders a foot tall. Our 341 went very smoothly, the trustee declared our personal case no-asset and abandoned all business assets back to us. One other case that day had very little documentation and the trustee was not happy with them - he requested that they send him their QuickBooks file on a CD so he could peruse it himself.