Cash on Hand as an asset?

[Run]

How did you Pro Se filers list cash as an asset on your assets forms?

Did you figure out exact amount at time of filing or what you would have at the 341, or what was not "already spent?"

We used a program that fills out the forms for you (and had to buy a pdf fill program to fix a few things). They advised us basically to skip a lot and not list much besides clothing and miscellaneous household goods. A relative is paying for our bankruptcy expenses for us, so the only cash we have is for that purpose and will be entirely used. In that case, how would you pursue it?

Perhaps I am worrying needlessly over a trivial amount of money (far less than $1000)?

We only ever shop at the thrift store and are in sore need of lots of stuff that we have deprived ourselves over the years, so I find it ridiculous to list what doesn't really exist aside from what we could (and probably should) spend today without anyone knowing the difference in our circumstances. I mean half of our stuff we got from the dumpster.

We also did not list our only bank account with an <$8 balance. And yet I feel bad for following the advice of the company that filled out our papers?

[JasonK94Z]

You must disclose how much cash you have on hand the day of your filing.

My wife and I will be filing next Tuesday. You can bet we will be going grocery shopping and filling the cars up with gas this weekend :-)

[BKTango]

You will have to list your cash on hand. There is a space for it on Schedule B, Personal Property form, line number 1. Cash on hand. Just list what you have on you at the time of filing. If at all possible make sure you take care of some bills or groceries and other expenses to keep that amount down. However depending on your exemptions the amount is possibly exempt anyway.

Also you are required to list any and all bank accounts, on the same schedule. Line 2. It doesn't matter if it has a low balance or not, it needs to be disclosed.

http://www.uscourts.gov/rules/Revise...K_Form_B6B.pdf

That link is for Schedule B should you need it.

[Run]

But it is not even our money. My mother in law sent enough money to be used only for the purposes of bankruptcy. It is not our money anymore than my dad's rifle is mine that he is letting me borrow. I do not understand why we would need to disclose every little thing when the categories are so broad. Our bank account only has enough in it to cover the fee for not having money in it to keep it from being closed. Why would they care about that? It is impossible to list everything and we were/are not hiding anything. You really think that we should list both?

This makes me feel worse and hate the form preparation people even more! I hate this. We try and do every thing "to the best of our knowledge and ability," and it just doesn't seem to be good enough for them!

[JollyGG]

It sounds like you are going to be well below the exemption amount.

Our lawyer put $500 and called it good. Turns out on filing day we only had a couple of bucks. But the $500 was covered by our exemption just as well as $2 would have been and no one drove themselves bonkers trying to figure out the exact amount that would be in the account that day.

[jennyn]

I put $100. I went on pacer and looked at what some other recent filers listed and they all seemed to be $100 or below.

[Misha707]

Just make sure you check your state's exemptions, I'm in Kansas, and as far as I've been able to tell (I should ask my lawyer about this, I know) there is absolutely NO exemption for cash/bank balance in this state.

I'm sure if it was very low, they wouldn't be interested, like I had stated on my forms that it was $20. It turned out to be more like $7, but if the Trustee had wanted my last $7/$20, I would have figured it worth it!

[Run]

Our state exemption is waaaaaay above the amount we keep in our coin jar (which is all of it).

[SinkingFast]

Some States have a funky rule about the actual $$$'s you have in your pocket or stashed in the cookie jar.

We filed in Indiana and Indiana has a rule about "Cash On Hand". During our meeting with our attny, the paralegal had us pull out the cash we had in our pockets, wallets, and purse and count it. Right there on the conference table.

We also had to list our Bank Acct and the $$$ amount there as well.

So, it can partly depend on the State you're filing in too.

[CindyLou]

Remember, no one is going to come to your home, go through your purse, or rummage through your cabinets to verify what you put on your forms. As you long as you do the best you can you are are fine. The most important thing as that you list any bank accounts, titles vehicles, real property, real estates, and valuables accurately. I wouldn't get too hung up on the small unverifiable stuff. That will make you crazy!!! Again, do the best you can and make an honest attempt to be accurate and you will be fine, but if you don't get the penny jar to nearest cent or the shoe box to nearest dollar or don't list dad's antique gun that he's going to pick up next week no one is going to know the difference. (please don't take this to mean I am saying to ever hide anything...) Just that if you forget something that nobody is going to come to your house with our list and check it off to see if you listed everything. Get the idea? Relax..you'll be fine.

[mysterie91]

My attorney said that cash on hand in NY would mean anyhting in our pockets and in our bank accts as of the day of filing. It could be higher the next day or lower but its the amount that day that is important.

[PaKettle]

I don't see how they could possibly know what you had on hand sitting in a cookie jar in the cabinet, unless you went out and used it for paying rent or something in which case they might see that no check was used and then say "Hmmm, where did the money come from to pay the rent?" But I really doubt they get that deep into it...

California must have some weird law on this because my attorney said it wouldn't matter how much I had in the bank account on the day I filed, unless it was like $8000 or something. I said that I might end up having the money for my rent sitting in there, as the check might be uncashed yet, and so there might be like a couple thousand in there between that and my car payment. He said "No problem!" But apparently this stuff changed from district to district, state to state.

[SinkingFast]

I said that I might end up having the money for my rent sitting in there, as the check might be uncashed yet, and so there might be like a couple thousand in there between that and my car payment.

When you get close to actually filing,.......... Use Money Orders and Cashier's Checks from your bank if need be.

I know Wally World MO's only go up so high. We'd use MO's for monthly bills and get a Cashier's Check from the bank for our rent.

That way, there's no money sitting in the bank acct waiting for a check to clear.

[PaKettle]

When you get close to actually filing,.......... Use Money Orders and Cashier's Checks from your bank if need be.

I know Wally World MO's only go up so high. We'd use MO's for monthly bills and get a Cashier's Check from the bank for our rent.

That way, there's no money sitting in the bank acct waiting for a check to clear.

I guess I could, but my attorney said I really shouldn't worry about it.

Am I missing something here? It would seem to me at first examination, that if I took money out of my account and put it into a money order, that would look more suspicious then just letting the money sit there and be taken from my landlord a few days later. When I went into the 341 if they asked about my checking account having so much money in it I could just show the check stub that shows that the money went for my rent. No?

Where does one find one's own State exemptions for this?

[SinkingFast]

What State, Pa??

I usually Google the State's name and BK Exemptions.

Example,............ California Bankruptcy Exemptions.

You'll get a ton of hits for what ever State you need. Be sure to look at several sites. Many States have updated their Exemptions in the last couple of years and some sites are not current. Or some sites don't fully explain a State's Exemptions. So look at several.