341 Question regarding questioning

[AMISLANDER]

Does anyone know what the significane of the "Have you owned property in the past 5/10 years" is?

I keep reading this in people's 341 experiences and when it comes to me, I'm going to have to answer "yes" and I'm wondering what can of worms that's going to open up!

I don't have any cash from either property so will they be putting me up on the rack?

[AAAArt]

If you sold a house and made $250,000 dollars on it 6 months ago, you had better be able to explain where the money went. That's basically what it is about.
Just be prepared with the dates of sales, amount sold for, amount of equity which you made or lost on the sale and a basic explanation of where the money went.
It really whouldn't be a problem unless you still have a lot of the money and have it hidden under the mattress and didn't declare it. They are just asking to see if there's a chance that you have committed deliberate fraud.
Just don't crack and confess that you do have $18.75 left and it's hidden in your shoe. Art

[SleeplessInMI]

Just don't crack and confess that you do have $18.75 left and it's hidden in your shoe.

Hey, I heard the Trustee can make you empty your pockets in front of him. Wonder if that is true... if so why not shoes as well?

[quest42]

Standard 341 questions...

I went to observe about a dozen 341 meetings yesterday, just so I would know what to expect, feel more prepared for it, and see what my trustee was like. She was polite and businesslike. The longest one took maybe five minutes or less. Ten out of the dozen cases had a paralegal or attorney, two were in pro per. Two were debtor no-shows, with the attorney present, and those were continued until another meeting in a few weeks.

Each person was sworn-in and asked to state name and show photo id - Drivers License - and evidence of SSN. (SSN from a credit report was accepted for one.)

The questions were almost all very standard ones, such as:

• Marital status?
• Did you get a copy... Have you read it... Did you sign it... Are the statements all true and correct?
• Have you filed before?
• Are all your assets listed?
• Is your employer still...
• Income still about the same?
• Expenses still about the same?
• Have you sold, transferred, or given away any property worth over $5,000 in the past two years?
• Did you own any real estate during the past two years?

One person aparently had far more expenses than income, and was asked "Are you getting help from anyone?" She answered "No." And that was that.

I'm not sure of the purpose of that question, what if someone, family or friend, is giving a debtor a few hundred dollars a month to live on? What could the trustee do about that, why would the trustee care?

At the end of each meeting, the trustee said, "The matter is concluded, you may be excused."

[snickerdoodle]

trustee asking about help from others

they ask because if you say someone gives money then it's considered additional income. The place I went to said to tell them my family buys me groceries and brings them to me. or that they pay a bill for and that they send the bill in. You just have to be careful about receiving help questions.

My meeting is monday! I'm very nervous and trying to get as much help here as i can.

[FoolAndHisMoney]

Hey, I heard the Trustee can make you empty your pockets in front of him. Wonder if that is true... if so why not shoes as well?

He's welcome to my shoes. He would probably fall off the chair though.LOL

[rawar]

Whoa !!

"they ask because if you say someone gives money then it's considered additional income. "

YIKES !! Is this True for sure???

I have my 341 on this coming Monday. Because of high medical bills for absolutely necessary medical procedures my expenses exceed my income by hundreds of dollars/month. These medical procedures are the type where you have to pay BEFORE the procedure or you don't get it.

I have been able to survive only because of the financial assitance (gifts) of family and freinds. I had been concerrned about having expenses in excess of income, but my lawyer told me not to worry about it cuz it happens with lots of peeps, i.e. they have medical expenses, lose their jobs, and have to find alternativer sources of funding for their medical expenses.

I had assumed that non-regular, not predictable gifts from family and friends is not counted as income. Am I wrong?? Am I now screwed into a Chapter 13??

[SleeplessInMI]

"they ask because if you say someone gives money then it's considered additional income. "

YIKES !! Is this True for sure???

I have my 341 on this coming Monday. Because of high medical bills for absolutely necessary medical procedures my expenses exceed my income by hundreds of dollars/month. These medical procedures are the type where you have to pay BEFORE the procedure or you don't get it.

I have been able to survive only because of the financial assitance (gifts) of family and freinds. I had been concerrned about having expenses in excess of income, but my lawyer told me not to worry about it cuz it happens with lots of peeps, i.e. they have medical expenses, lose their jobs, and have to find alternativer sources of funding for their medical expenses.

I had assumed that non-regular, not predictable gifts from family and friends is not counted as income. Am I wrong?? Am I now screwed into a Chapter 13??

I read in a forum (not sure if it was this one or another one) where a Trustee made a debtor empty out his pockets in front of him and took all the money he pulled out. If this did indeed happen then I would assume it was because something on his petition looked suspicious. But I can't say for sure it this is true or not. Might be just hot air... You can't believe everything you read on forums.

And I don't think you will be forced into a Chapter 13 based on getting money from family members. They cannot be forced to make your Chapter 13 payments so I wouldn't think that money could be counted as income.