Banking money before a 7

[ELBKnow]

I have heard that if you want to bank some money before a 7 you have to sort of "hide" it or the trustee will take it. IS this true? And what's the best way to keep it? We want an emergency fund ready to go.

[newbie2]

I have heard that if you want to bank some money before a 7 you have to sort of "hide" it or the trustee will take it. IS this true? And what's the best way to keep it? We want an emergency fund ready to go.

Trying to "hide" money from your bankruptcy petition and trustee is a big no-no. Think about it: You are signing a petition stating you are being truthful.

Check your states exemptions for allowed cash on hand and save up to the amount that you can legally exempt. That is the safest way to do it.

[ELBKnow]

Makes a lot of sense. I wasn't looking to break the law or anything, so that is a good idea.

[music12]

and if you were looking to break the law (which is kind of hard not to assume, given the word "hide" in your post!), nobody on this forum could help you even if they wanted to - a moderator would remove the post and ban them from posting

[blessed]

You're just going to have to suck it up and only have the exempted amount of cash on hand when you file. We could have easily saved up more than that but knew it would be better to just spend it down instead of letting the trustee have it. We literally got paid the day after we filed so were already on our way to saving at that point.

Suck it up, don't do anything stupid.

[angles]

what if you receive a check a few days before filing - can you wait until after the filing to deposit it? also, I have a part time job that has not paid me yet but I expect to get the back pay sometime in the future. do I have to declare the expected amount?

[music12]

if you receive a check before filing, it's an asset even if you have not deposited it yet - you are supposed to report it as an asset somewhere on your petition. (although, my lawyer told me that uncashed unemployment checks are not assets; not sure why he said that...). and no, you don't have to declare something that has not happened yet.

[helpmeout]

The best way to keep it is to exempt it. If you don't have enough exemptions, then spend it on items that you will need and will last a while.

Hiding it is called Bankruptcy fraud. And you can permanently lose the ability to discharge the debts if you commit it. And if it is found out after the discharge, the discharge can be undone and, well, I'm pretty sure one wouldn't like the result of that.

[helpmeout]

what if you receive a check a few days before filing - can you wait until after the filing to deposit it? also, I have a part time job that has not paid me yet but I expect to get the back pay sometime in the future. do I have to declare the expected amount?

Having the check is the same thing as having cash on hand. A better idea would be to plan your filing the day before you get paid and make sure that the only cash in the accounts (Trustees don't care about outstanding checks) is within the exemption limits.

I filed the day before I got a bonus. I get to keep the bonus as a result of that.

[StartingOver08]

Look up BKDefenders' posts. He has an excellent, and legal, solution: Put the money away in your retirement account if you have used up all of your cash exemptions allowed.

[angles]

I don’t want to hide anything and risk not getting my BK approved - that is for sure. but we view this as a once in a lifetime never to happen again event so we also want to maximize what we are allowed so we can put our best foot forward.

[needachance]

Spend it on allowable items to stock up, then you basically have "cash on hand" in groceries etc that you won't have to buy. We were paid on Friday, got money orders for bills that needed to be paid next week, prebought groceries with the rest of it. our pantries are completely stuffed, should last a couple months, that gives us time to get back on our feet. Don't try to sneak anything past the BK trustee, they can make your life REALLY SUCK!@!!!!