Winning a law suit and getting settlement after ch 7 bankrupcy

[gotquestions]

Do i have to pay back money I am winning in a law suit after ch 7 bankrupcy because it's due to an insurance claim that happened prior to filing. I got an attorney after filing for bankrupcy and we actualy enterd litigation in court against the insurance company the we were discharged. I thought I heard something about paying back if I won the lotery or a settlement but I'm not sure if it matters since my bankrupcy was discharged over a year ago. Does anybody know anything about that stuff? (deleted email link) We figure I'll be getting a check of about 100k-300k after I pay my attorney fees.

[Mensa1]

Were you aware of this potential lawsuit or windfall at the time of the Ch 7 filing? If not, no issue. If you were and didn't disclose then it could be a potential issue, but not likely. Usually the question asked is something like: "Are you are party to a lawsuit, (or do you expect to be a party to a lawsuit) where you expect a settlement, blah, blah" If asked this way, how did you answer that Q?

The timeline is 180 days from date of filing, if discharged; (or the discharge date... if after 180 days from your filing date), so you have no issue there at all based solely on the time factor.

Nice settlement, BTW. Should make a big difference going fwd, if handled properly.

[HHM]

Strictly speaking, if the event that gave rise to your claim occurred before you filed bankruptcy, than any proceeds from judgment/settlement are part of the BK estate unless exempt.

You have 2 choices.
1. Do nothing and ride it through and "hope" nothing happens.
2. Reopen the BK and list the asset.

If you do nothing, and this is found, then you could have some serious problems (BK fraud, etc). However, since you are a year from discharge, you are not an anyones radar (assuming your case is also closed), so the risks are low of anything happening. Strictly speaking, the money, unless exempt, is subject to your BK.

[keepmine]

In addition to HHM's thoughts, I'm suprised the insurance company didn't rat you out.
Part of opposition research is to run your name through pacer or some other legal search engine that collects bk data and if a bk pops up inform the trustee.