Inheritance? Chapter 7

[Islandsunshine]

I have a question. I am thinking of filing chapter 7 and I have no assets other than a bike and my clothes. I live with cousin and they let me use their cars if I need one but I am a bike rider for health and the enviroment.

Anyway my grandmother passed away and if her home ever sells each child, grandchild, great grandkid might get 50 cents if the is anything left after the bills etc. ( this is an old house in Missouri, it's a rehab at best) anyway, the last thing I want is my entire family to find out that I have gone bankrupt.

Is my name and SS# automatically sent out and every court would get this info? Being my Dad is the executor, and if my name was mentioned as an heir then he would find out???

Thanks

[FilingOnMyOwn]

Its really a tough question to answer without knowing all the details. How much do you owe, and how much do you think your inheritance will be? If you filed, although the bk becomes public information, noone other than those you included in the filing and listed in the creditor matrix would be automatically notified. However your trustee will generally ask at your 341 if you are expecting an inheritance. You could answer 'no' in a variety of creative ways at your own risk, but in the event you are caught the money would be taken and its likely everyone would find out if that were to occur.

[JRScott]

The safest bet is to mention that you might receive a small inheritance from the estate of your grandmother. It is likely that the Trustee would discover it anyway if the will is being probated by the courts.

It will mean your case will remain open longer though as it might become an asset case. What you would need to do is collect up what the value of your grandmother's estate is, and then how it is to be divided. It is possible the amount might be small enough that the Trustee will not be interested.

If you have a lawyer I would certainly tell your lawyer and see what he thinks.

[CindyLou]

actually you are not considered a direct heir unless your father or mother (depending on which grandmother passed) has also passed away. Only the direct heir gets the money and if they choose to share then its their choice. If, in fact either your father is the direct heir then if you answer "no" that is the truth. I don't think you'll be named in the probate????? I'm not an attorney, but my family just went through this with my grandmother and the only person listed on the probate that wasn't one of her children was in the case of my dad's sister, who had passed away and then her children all were listed in the probate. Hope I'm making sense. I would say that a safe answer is no, especially since it will only be a little bit of money. If in fact it does happen then you can tell the trustee the situation and what you will be getting, but I see no way how your dad would know unless he reads all the bk cases on pacer or sees it in the local paper (if you live in a very very small town)

[clarkmommy]

We went through this when we filed in August. My husband got a small amount from the estate of his uncle plus he recieved a portion of an outstanding mortgage (which will be paid to all yearly for the next 20 years). Anyway, we didn't file until we recieved the lump sum payment (roughly 4K). The reminder of the estate (the mortgage), the atty took the estimated cash value and included it as an asset of ours. At our meeting with the trustee they asked about it, what we did with the lump sum (pay mortgage, bills, etc), and so forth....but really didn't bat an eye becuase we could explain it and it wasn't a huge amount of money. So I would be truthful with your atty and if it isn't a lot of $$ it really shouldn't pose a problem. I would be prepared with value of the estate and your portion of the estate. Also be prepared to answer questions about it with the trustee.

Ruth

[Spartan]

Just answer truthfully.

What is the truth? The truth is You don't expect to inherit anything. Who are we kidding? 50cents? You call that an inheritance? If that is what you realistically expect to inherit, then you can truthfully declare that you don't expect any inheritance coming your way.

[guzzie]

same boat

hi...i am in the same boat...dad died without a real will...his only wish was when the house was sold, each of the 6 kids received a share of what was left over...the kids let me and my sister live in the house as long as we pay the upkeep, etc...we still pay the mortgage, etc...in my case the house was
assessed at 112 k and there is 52 k owed on the mortgage...the equity is
60 k ...divided by the 6 kids, my share would be 10,000.....lawer said my share is exempt....it isn't an aquired inheritence yet as we have no plans to sell the house...but i had to tell the lawer the truth...it is on my petition and i will have to tell the trustee if we sell in the next 6 mo to a year but i don't
see any problem with him...just get the value of your share and it may be exempt as mine is...the truth will get you to your goal of a fresh start...
good luck...guzzie