Filed last week, can we spend any money?

[eek2121]

I asked this before, but it was worded very poorly. So let's try this again.

We finally filed last week, and we (obviously) haven't yet attended the meeting of the creditors. We are using federal exemptions and have no assets other than $2,500 in the bank account. Because of this, the case will be a no asset chapter 7 according to our attorney. My question is, what happens to the money we receive AFTER the filing date. There are 2 things that will happen within the next several weeks. 1) I will be filing our 2016 taxes. We will get around $4,000 back. 2) This month is a 3 paycheck month. Because of this, We will have an additional $3,000 as a result of that. Even with all of this extra money, we won't be anywhere close to the federal wild card exemption limit. Can we save this money? Spend this money? I'm looking to replace my 7 year old computer at some point (the budget for that would be around $2,000) very soon and outside of that we would like to save the rest. Should I wait on the computer purchase? Until when? After the 341 meeting? After the discharge? I would rather not bug my lawyer with these questions, as they have been very busy the past few weeks.

[bcohen]

Unless your state allows one to exempt a sufficient amount to cover the $2500 bank account balance on filing day and the upcoming tax refund of $4000, your trustee will demand turnover of the money. Also, even if such exemptions are available, you have/had to assert them in your Schedule C. If you are not sure, then you'd better hold off spending any of it, until you see what the trustee demands.

[justbroke]

I1) I will be filing our 2016 taxes. We will get around $4,000 back. 2) This month is a 3 paycheck month. Because of this, We will have an additional $3,000 as a result of that. Even with all of this extra money, we won't be anywhere close to the federal wild card exemption limit. Can we save this money? Spend this money? I'm looking to replace my 7 year old computer at some point (the budget for that would be around $2,000) very soon and outside of that we would like to save the rest. Should I wait on the computer purchase? Until when? After the 341 meeting? After the discharge? I would rather not bug my lawyer with these questions, as they have been very busy the past few weeks.

Did you exempt that money in the bankruptcy? You would have exempted your 2016 taxes and you would have needed to exempt the entire $4,000.

You do not need to worry about income from your job. A Chapter 7 is a snapshot of your financial life as of the day you filed. I would wait, however, on spending on things that are not for the health and safety of you, your dependents, and/or your family. I too have a $2,000 iMac but I haven't replaced it since... 2008. I just can't justify spending the money and I do use it for work. It's just a solid machine and I am actually running 3 virtual machines (systems) at once right now! It's a workhorse with all its 27" display.

I would certainly try to save. I would also try to use the computer until you absolutely can no longer use the computer. I have been able to stave off buying a new one even though I got that itch back in 2015. I'm glad I didn't scratch that itch, because this machine has been working flawlessly (less replacing the hard drive back in 2016 with a 3TB drive) -- and thank God almighty for Time Machine as I didn't miss a single byte of data on restore.

I would certainly wait until after discharge if I could since you have no immediate "need" for anything. Park it in savings (hopefully with a little interest albeit nothing phenomenal).

[eek2121]

Did you exempt that money in the bankruptcy? You would have exempted your 2016 taxes and you would have needed to exempt the entire $4,000.

You do not need to worry about income from your job. A Chapter 7 is a snapshot of your financial life as of the day you filed. I would wait, however, on spending on things that are not for the health and safety of you, your dependents, and/or your family. I too have a $2,000 iMac but I haven't replaced it since... 2008. I just can't justify spending the money and I do use it for work. It's just a solid machine and I am actually running 3 virtual machines (systems) at once right now! It's a workhorse with all its 27" display.

I would certainly try to save. I would also try to use the computer until you absolutely can no longer use the computer. I have been able to stave off buying a new one even though I got that itch back in 2015. I'm glad I didn't scratch that itch, because this machine has been working flawlessly (less replacing the hard drive back in 2016 with a 3TB drive) -- and thank God almighty for Time Machine as I didn't miss a single byte of data on restore.

I would certainly wait until after discharge if I could since you have no immediate "need" for anything. Park it in savings (hopefully with a little interest albeit nothing phenomenal).

Looking at the schedule C, the refund was exempted, but the amount put down by my attorney was $2,500 as that was the best information available at the time. We have yet to file, but I finally have all the documents I need and I've inputted the information into TurboTax. The final amount due back is a bit over $3,000. The total amount of all exempted assets is around $6,000, which is less than the $1,250 + $11,850 that the federal exemptions allow. Should I talk to my attorney about the tax refund difference?

[justbroke]

I would ask the attorney. You may need to amend your schedules to reflect the actual amount. Your attorney may tell you to just disclose it to the Trustee at the 341 (or s/he may do so). You seem to have plenty of room with your Federal unused homestead exemption.