Meeting with BK Lawyer tomorrow

[Brittanie55]

Hey everyone I am new here but have a few questions
Tomorrow I meet with my, hopefully, bk lawyer. I have done so much research and reading my mind is jumbled. I have a list of all of my creditors and how much I owe them and the account number for them. The thing I am having trouble with, and I am not sure why, is the list of all my assets

I do not own much. I basically own nothing. I do not have a car in my name I really have nothing in my name. I live with my boyfriend and I do not have any source of income right now.

I could literally pack up all my things in one big trash bag. Should I just list everything I own and find the value of it to be safe? I literally own a camera, 2 purses, a curling iron, hair dryer, pictures, clothes, 2 pairs of shoes and a dog. Not much huh? I have about $27,000 in debt. Mostly credit card and medical bills. My assets list will be quite small.

What would be the best way of finding the value of the things I have? Sorry for rambling, just trying to get all my ducks in a row.

I also wont be filing till probably the middle of march. I got some money from a car accident last Nov and paid back a family member from that, and from what I gather I would have to wait 1 year to file inorder to avoid my family member getting sued for the money I paid them.

[backtoschool]

Hi Brittanie55,

The value you put on your personal possessions is the value you would get if you sold it quickly on ebay or at a garage sale. You do not put retail value on anything.

Many states will allow you to just generally list items, (ie, clothes, household goods) and will not make you list each individual item. Your lawyer will be able to tell you what to do. Your personal items will most likely fall well within the allowable exemptions for your state, so no need to list them out now until your lawyer says otherwise.

Yes, you will have to wait one year to file, if you paid a family member. The trustee would go after the family member for the money.

Good luck on your consultation with your lawyer and let us know how it goes.

[Brittanie55]

Thanks so much! I think I am just going to type up a list of what I own and, like you said, the value I would sell my things for on Ebay or garage seale. I have very little things so I might as well just do it to have it.

Something I just remember too. A few months ago my boyfriend bought a new car and I signed over my car to the dealership so he could use it as trade in. Is this going to cause any problem? Right now I do not have a car in my name but my boyfriend does have 2 cars and I sometimes use one of them. I have insurance on one of the cars. I do not pay the bill, he gives me money then I pay it.

Also our cable/phone/internet bill is currently in my name but I do not own the phone,computer ot tv that is in the house. He owns everything here. Is this going to cause a issue?

[backtoschool]

Thanks so much! I think I am just going to type up a list of what I own and, like you said, the value I would sell my things for on Ebay or garage seale. I have very little things so I might as well just do it to have it.

Something I just remember too. A few months ago my boyfriend bought a new car and I signed over my car to the dealership so he could use it as trade in. Is this going to cause any problem? Right now I do not have a car in my name but my boyfriend does have 2 cars and I sometimes use one of them. I have insurance on one of the cars. I do not pay the bill, he gives me money then I pay it.

Also our cable/phone/internet bill is currently in my name but I do not own the phone,computer ot tv that is in the house. He owns everything here. Is this going to cause a issue?

Yes this could be a problem if you don't exempt the car in some way. Any transfers of property going back two years have to be accounted for. I traded in my 2004 saab for a 2009 hyundai and had to exempt the full value of my saab on my petition. Even after exempting it, the trustee still is trying to find a way to get money out of the asset.

If your exemptions cover the value of the car, you will probably be ok, but you will have to exempt the car even though you traded it in. From my experience, the trustee may not like it anyway. My saab issue is still not resolved, although I had my 341 meeting and am in waiting for discharge status. The Saab is still up in the air at this time though.

What state do you live in? We can figure out your wildcard exemptions if we know what state you are filing in.

[Brittanie55]

I live in AZ. So tomorrow when I meet with the lawyer I need to make sure to tell him about the car right? I paid for the car with money from the car accident I was in but that money was never put into a bank account. I did not have one at the time. My boyfriends dad paid for the car and then I gave him the money. I don't know why but I am very nervous about tomorrow.

[backtoschool]

I live in AZ. So tomorrow when I meet with the lawyer I need to make sure to tell him about the car right? I paid for the car with money from the car accident I was in but that money was never put into a bank account. I did not have one at the time. My boyfriends dad paid for the car and then I gave him the money. I don't know why but I am very nervous about tomorrow.

Bankruptcy is a big step, but don't be nervous. Filing is going to provide you a fresh start.

Looking at Arizona's exemptions, the auto exemption is $1,500 and there are no wildcard exemptions that I could find.

Was your name on the title? When did you give your boyfriend's dad the money and how much did you give him? This will also be considered an insider payment most likely. Did it happen over a year ago?

The personal property exemptions are well within what your stuff will evaluate at, so you are fine there.

[Brittanie55]

It was over a year ago. The title was in my name, his name was just on the check to the dealership. I gave him like $9300, which was the price of the car. He just died so they can't really go after him.

I want this fresh start more then anything. I will never have a credit card again for as long as I live. If I can't afford it right then and there, then I don't get it.

[backtoschool]

It was over a year ago. The title was in my name, his name was just on the check to the dealership. I gave him like $9300, which was the price of the car. He just died so they can't really go after him.

I want this fresh start more then anything. I will never have a credit card again for as long as I live. If I can't afford it right then and there, then I don't get it.

Well, the only thing they could do would be to go after him, so I don't think its an issue, especially since it was over a year ago. I would definitely explain this all to your lawyer though, so that if the trustee has questions, your lawyer knows what is going on.

[Brittanie55]

Yeah I plan on explaining everything to my lawyer. One other thing, My grandfather bought me some stock a long time ago but it does not go into my name until I am 25, I just turned 24. Do I need to tell them about this too?

[backtoschool]

Yeah I plan on explaining everything to my lawyer. One other thing, My grandfather bought me some stock a long time ago but it does not go into my name until I am 25, I just turned 24. Do I need to tell them about this too?

Yes. Especially since you will turn 25 in less than a year.

[Brittanie55]

So when the account goes into my name I will basically have to pay them the money I get from it? When I turn 25 it will still have my grandfathers name on it too I will just be listed as a secondary person.

[backtoschool]

So when the account goes into my name I will basically have to pay them the money I get from it? When I turn 25 it will still have my grandfathers name on it too I will just be listed as a secondary person.

How long from now do you turn 25?

[Brittanie55]

august 4th

[backtoschool]

OK, here is an example scenario:

So, let's say you finish paying your lawyer and filing by the end of Sept. That means your 341 will be at the end of October or early November. One of the standard questions that the trustee may ask you is if you have or are going to have any interest in any stocks or bonds, or inheritances, etc. You will have to say yes. The trustee will definitely be interested in the stocks.

If your grandfather's name is on them, then your ownership is only half, so half will be safe.

I really don't know all the details or complexities here, so this is something that you definitely will want to bring up with your lawyer.

[Brittanie55]

I will just have to bring it up with my lawyer. I wont be able to file until the middle of Nov anways because I need to wait for a year to be over from the time I paid my family member back the money. When the stock does go into my name I am hoping that my grandfathers name will be completely off of it. I would like my family to NOT know about this as much as possible.

Not that I am going to do this but I am curious, What would happen if I didn't even tell the lawyer or trustee about getting the stock in my name? How would they know about it?