is it ok to return to work before discharge ?

[Johhny5]

Hello..if anyone can help please do so. My wife and I were in chap 13.We made too much in Ca to go chap 7.So after much thought I decided to resign my job and now were only single income with a kid and we filed chap 7.Our 341 meeting is 11-13-07.I need to know if its ok for me to return back to work because then we will be making above the means test/median income level.Would I need to disclose this to the court in the meeting if I did return to work or would it be better to start work after the 341 meeting?I know this sounds shady but living on one income in southern california is impossible to maintain for very long at all...please advise if anyone here knows...thanks.

[ohwell]

From what I understand, you can make more money after the 341 hearing, not before. We weren't asked by our trustee, but one of the standard questions listed in this forum that they can ask you where you are employed at.
We are one income in southern CA also due to our baby, and my hubby's income dropped. We are scraping by, but if you can hold on a bit longer, I wouldn't rock the boat right now. My husband and I miss a few meals from time to time and eat alot of PB&J and pasta, but we make it work. And we are a family of 4.
Hang in there!

[Johhny5]

were trying to hang in there but really it is difficult.I know to about the pasta and pbj meals..ha! My attorney wont give me a direct answer about this question.She just says if I work again I should repay my debts but I dont want to be in chap 13 for 5 years.We would never make it.Im thinking of starting work right after the 341 meeting that way i wont have to tell a lie if they ask me if im working.Good luck to you and thanks for the kind advice..I really do appreciate your comment.

[magyar123]

Try to get back to work after the discharge, not after the 341 hearing. Between the 341 hearing and the discharge your finances will be closely looked at by everyone ranging from the court to the creditors. If they find out that you're working again they will dismiss your Chapter 7 petition and possibly not even let you back into the 13.
And then those scumball collection agencies will start hounding you.

[jp2861]

If you go back to work after the 341 make sure it doesn't show up on your credit report. Some employers do credit checks and it will show up. If a creditor sees the pull you may have an issue.

[mxmom141]

We had talked with an attorney back at the beginning of March and since we were over in the means test we had to go down the Chap. 13 route. About a week before filing I ended up losing my job. This postponed everything for about 2 months but then we were able to to go and file Chap.7. While going through the whole process of the filing and waiting for the 341 meeting I was looking for work and had one great job lined up. It was going to be a pay cut but I wasn't going to have to commute anymore and had great benefits. I was advised by our attorney to ride it out till at least our 341 meeting before accepting any job offers. He told us that once we had our 341 meeting that it would be fine for me to begin working again! I was lucky enough that the great job that I had lined up was able to wait until our 341 meeting date and I started two days later. We are now in the 60 day club and things are getting back on track and not looking so bleak anymore!!!

mxmom
------------------
Filed 8/3/7
341 Meeting 9/12/07
Last Day for Creditors to object 10/15/07
Just hanging out in the 60 day club!!!!!

[Logan]

Johnny5,

The trustee asked me if my financial situation had changed since filing. Even though I had a new job that I would start a week later I was able to honestly answer NO. I don't know what would have been different if I had started earlier but I would have had to answer yes and then maybe chapter 13?

Good luck

[lrprn]

Try to get back to work after the discharge, not after the 341 hearing. Between the 341 hearing and the discharge your finances will be closely looked at by everyone ranging from the court to the creditors. If they find out that you're working again they will dismiss your Chapter 7 petition and possibly not even let you back into the 13. And then those scumball collection agencies will start hounding you.

This is not accurate. Unless there's something very unusual about Johhny5's case, he should be fine to start working after his 341 meeting.

In Ch 7, your trustee has no reason to look at your finances after the 341 unless there's a strong suspicion of fraud or that you are hiding assets. If you aren't, then you'll be fine.

[jp2861]

Try to get back to work after the discharge, not after the 341 hearing. Between the 341 hearing and the discharge your finances will be closely looked at by everyone ranging from the court to the creditors. If they find out that you're working again they will dismiss your Chapter 7 petition and possibly not even let you back into the 13.
And then those scumball collection agencies will start hounding you.

I kinda agree with you, the creditor part anyway. I noticed that they have been looking at my credit report monthly. If a creditor is thinking about objecting the last thing someone would want is for the creditor to see a new pull from a potential employer.

[SinkingFast]

Wait and see what happens at your 341 before you decide what to do about a job.

This time of year, Trustees often ask to see your filed income taxes in the Spring next year. Looking for refund monies to seize on behalf of the benefit of your Creditors. Most often, the Trustee will mention if he/she is interested in seeing your filed taxes at the 341. If so, you have to submit your filed taxes AND your W-2's from all employment/income sources.

If you have to show your taxes next spring,......... You might wanna hold off on starting a new job til after the first of the year. You wouldn't wanna say you left your job to tend to the family and then turn right around and show the Trustee you took on a new job.

[stopthebleeding]

If you have your 341 this year why will they ask you for next years taxes that dosen't make sense it is not here yet.

[WantToBeDebtFre]

I'm dealing with the same situation. I start a new job on October 19th and my 341 is on November 8th. I'm not sure what's going to happen but I didn't want to miss out on the job opportunity. I'll keep everyone updated if they even ask me about getting a new job. One of the questions my attorney said they could ask is "Do you expect employment to continue?". I was wondering how I should answer this question. Should I just say "yes"? I haven't asked my attorney yet but that's what I'm thinking.

[coma]

If you have your 341 this year why will they ask you for next years taxes that dosen't make sense it is not here yet.

Your taxes filed in 2008 are for 2007. The refund could be from withholding from 2007 income.

[SinkingFast]

If you have your 341 this year why will they ask you for next years taxes that dosen't make sense it is not here yet.

People planning to file BK will very often dink with their withholdings to have less Net income. Make it look like they have less money to live on. So Trustees look at income tax refunds as "voluntary savings accts". Those were the exact words our Trustee used at our 341.

The refund you receive in Spring of 2008 is from 2007 earnings. Therefore, a portion of your refund is an asset of the BK Estate. The Trustee is entitled to take a pro rated amount of your refund based on when you filed. Sept is 9/12ths, Oct is 10/12ths, and so on.

If you normally get back a larger refund, or your combined State and Federal totaled $1K or more in previous years, the Trustee might ask to see your 2007 filed income taxes. In our case, we got a big refund 1 year and paid big time the next. Our Trustee wanted to see what a "normal" filing year looked like.

Just something to be prepared for.

[ohwell]

We had a huge refund from 2006 due to alot more income and major medical expense deductions, plus owning a home and newly married changed our statuses. However, my hubby owed over 10k prior to our marriage and filing joint so all of it went towards that balance - IRS snatched it up right away, but we still owe 4k. The trustee asked us at the 341 about that, she looked at our atty and informed him that per the wording it looked like we applied the monies voluntarily? I was thinking in my head that she was being clueless, or trying to see if we were up to something. Regardless nothing was mentioned about wanting to see our 2007 tax return, we are down over 180k in our salaries and minimal medical deductions this year - probably looked pretty obvious we aren't getting anything back for next year.
I was relieved we didn't see a dime of that refund so it wasn't an issue, and also that we still owe. Its stated on our petition we still owe 4k, so if we got a refund(we have already forecasted and we won't, so will be stuck in the payment plan still) it won't be available to anyone except the IRS.