History:
1. I filed Chapter 13 in order to 'save' my house, but not from foreclosure. It was to enforce state court orders that I could buy out my x's share of the house 'at any time'. I had no consensual debt, but proposed to repair and sell the home and pay off creditors 100%
2. I had an investment property that the Ch 13 trustee said I'd have to surrender if I wanted her to approve of my plan, so I surrendered it.
3. X objected to my plan and because of a finding that my investment property might be unsecured rather than secured debt (it was really secured, but located in Costa Rica), my Ch 13 was dismissed.
4. I immediately filed Chapter 7, but because my 13 lawyer was inept or worse (sold out to X) I had to do it on my own. I copy/pasted most of the 13 forms and changed what needed to be changed.
5. At first the 7 Trustee said that my house was not a burden and she objected to X 's motion for abandonment so the hosue could be sold at 1/3 assessed value to his intimate friend. But within a week, she reversed herself and abandoned the house. I was evicted without due process (no unlawful detainer, notice or hearing)
6. The bk judge said that after my homestead was taken out, that the net should go to the Trustee.
7. Instead, my homestead was given to my X along with the rest of the net and the sale was done in secret, with no notice to me, nor any paperwork given. Instead of getting the $500,000 that I was supposed to get as my property division, I got 0. Homeless and living on $890/mo social security.
8. But they werent' yet done with me! First the Trustee, who now had no assets for the Estate because she sold my only asset...challenged my exemptions for spousal support and retirement. Then she filed a suit against the lender of the investment property, trying to get money from the lender for payments I'd made on my loan (payments stopped when I filed the 13 and it was 4 months before filing the Ch 7...I surrendered the property only because the 13 trustee said I had to. And now X filed an AP saying that money I was supposed to pay him from my share of the sale of the house should be nondischargeable debt. finally, since he is Plan Administrator and Trustee of our retirement plans he has refused to pay me my share for over 5 years. (Had he paid what I was awarded I'd never have had to file for bk in the first place)..Now he says that there is money missing from our retirement and he wants me to take the hit, while I believe I shoudl get what waws initially awarded plus interest.
9. My Ch 7 was discharged in February but it is not yet closed.
With a hearing on the exemption issue looming, and even tho I had my proof of exemptions all ready to go, I was pleased to hear from the trustee that she was dropping her objection. (1 lawsuit down)
But then X's bk attorney informed me that the trustee (they must talk a lot) was settling a lawsuit that had been filed against me in 2008. the problem with that is that the judge in that suit told the plaintiffs taht they had no case but that I had counterclaims that were still valid. I'd hoped to get @$20k from this suit. I contacted the trsutee who said taht they'd offered HER $5k to settle the claim. The claim is for both property damage, and personal injury damage which is exempt. My 13 attorney had the info re this suit and noted it on the schedules but NOT on schedule B as a potential asset. The trustee said that she COULD claim bad faith in my not scheduling it. Not sure if being discharged and the property in question having been abandoned makes any difference in these questions:
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1. Should I amend the schedules (B and C for the perssonal injury exemption)?
2. Is she entitled to the money from the property damage even tho she abandoned the property that was damaged?
3. If she settles this rather than letting it play out in state court where i believe I have a good chance to win, can I object? Can she settle only the property damage part or can she settle the personal injury part too, even tho it is exempt?
4. Timing: if I amend the schedules to show exemption, would that change any of the answers to above questions?
5. In re non-dichargeabliity of divorce debt since BAPTA, has there been any challenges in BK to this non-dichargeability being absolute....even for example if I can't pay the debt only because X insisted taht the house be sold to his intimate friend for so little that there was no 'net' with whcih to pay. OR is the bk court only interested in upholding divorce and then letting the state court decide IF there really is such a debt. (What I'm trying to say is : does the bk court have any leeway to hear evidence as to why post divorce awards of debt to X shouldn't be enforced under this part of the code.) My reason for asking is that X's attorney says that the rule is absolute and the bk judge won't go into the fraud issues involved but leave that to the state court....and that he will ask for sanctions if I even Answer the claim (which I already answered and did initial disclosures)
OK..lsorry this is so long, but although Des has offered so much help already, I 'm hoping that someone will have additional info.
Thanks in advance, CB!
8.
1. I filed Chapter 13 in order to 'save' my house, but not from foreclosure. It was to enforce state court orders that I could buy out my x's share of the house 'at any time'. I had no consensual debt, but proposed to repair and sell the home and pay off creditors 100%
2. I had an investment property that the Ch 13 trustee said I'd have to surrender if I wanted her to approve of my plan, so I surrendered it.
3. X objected to my plan and because of a finding that my investment property might be unsecured rather than secured debt (it was really secured, but located in Costa Rica), my Ch 13 was dismissed.
4. I immediately filed Chapter 7, but because my 13 lawyer was inept or worse (sold out to X) I had to do it on my own. I copy/pasted most of the 13 forms and changed what needed to be changed.
5. At first the 7 Trustee said that my house was not a burden and she objected to X 's motion for abandonment so the hosue could be sold at 1/3 assessed value to his intimate friend. But within a week, she reversed herself and abandoned the house. I was evicted without due process (no unlawful detainer, notice or hearing)
6. The bk judge said that after my homestead was taken out, that the net should go to the Trustee.
7. Instead, my homestead was given to my X along with the rest of the net and the sale was done in secret, with no notice to me, nor any paperwork given. Instead of getting the $500,000 that I was supposed to get as my property division, I got 0. Homeless and living on $890/mo social security.
8. But they werent' yet done with me! First the Trustee, who now had no assets for the Estate because she sold my only asset...challenged my exemptions for spousal support and retirement. Then she filed a suit against the lender of the investment property, trying to get money from the lender for payments I'd made on my loan (payments stopped when I filed the 13 and it was 4 months before filing the Ch 7...I surrendered the property only because the 13 trustee said I had to. And now X filed an AP saying that money I was supposed to pay him from my share of the sale of the house should be nondischargeable debt. finally, since he is Plan Administrator and Trustee of our retirement plans he has refused to pay me my share for over 5 years. (Had he paid what I was awarded I'd never have had to file for bk in the first place)..Now he says that there is money missing from our retirement and he wants me to take the hit, while I believe I shoudl get what waws initially awarded plus interest.
9. My Ch 7 was discharged in February but it is not yet closed.
With a hearing on the exemption issue looming, and even tho I had my proof of exemptions all ready to go, I was pleased to hear from the trustee that she was dropping her objection. (1 lawsuit down)
But then X's bk attorney informed me that the trustee (they must talk a lot) was settling a lawsuit that had been filed against me in 2008. the problem with that is that the judge in that suit told the plaintiffs taht they had no case but that I had counterclaims that were still valid. I'd hoped to get @$20k from this suit. I contacted the trsutee who said taht they'd offered HER $5k to settle the claim. The claim is for both property damage, and personal injury damage which is exempt. My 13 attorney had the info re this suit and noted it on the schedules but NOT on schedule B as a potential asset. The trustee said that she COULD claim bad faith in my not scheduling it. Not sure if being discharged and the property in question having been abandoned makes any difference in these questions:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
?????????????????????????????
1. Should I amend the schedules (B and C for the perssonal injury exemption)?
2. Is she entitled to the money from the property damage even tho she abandoned the property that was damaged?
3. If she settles this rather than letting it play out in state court where i believe I have a good chance to win, can I object? Can she settle only the property damage part or can she settle the personal injury part too, even tho it is exempt?
4. Timing: if I amend the schedules to show exemption, would that change any of the answers to above questions?
5. In re non-dichargeabliity of divorce debt since BAPTA, has there been any challenges in BK to this non-dichargeability being absolute....even for example if I can't pay the debt only because X insisted taht the house be sold to his intimate friend for so little that there was no 'net' with whcih to pay. OR is the bk court only interested in upholding divorce and then letting the state court decide IF there really is such a debt. (What I'm trying to say is : does the bk court have any leeway to hear evidence as to why post divorce awards of debt to X shouldn't be enforced under this part of the code.) My reason for asking is that X's attorney says that the rule is absolute and the bk judge won't go into the fraud issues involved but leave that to the state court....and that he will ask for sanctions if I even Answer the claim (which I already answered and did initial disclosures)
OK..lsorry this is so long, but although Des has offered so much help already, I 'm hoping that someone will have additional info.
Thanks in advance, CB!
8.