Ch. 7 and Personal Injury, in Florida

[Jimmy9190]

Hello all,

I have been reading here for a long time but this is my first post. I am filing Ch. 7 here in Orlando, FL. I was on a payment plan with my attorney, got all the fees paid last month and they filed my Ch. 7 case this past Friday, May 14th. They say I will have my 341 meeting probably late June or early in July and be discharged maybe in September or October. There are a lot of cases being filed here, and I am no exception. I had over $22K in unsecured debts and credit cards, with no real hope of ever paying it off. I took the last Debtor Education Course online Monday night so am waiting now for notice of my 341.

On March 29th I was in a car wreck. It was not my fault. My girlfriend was with me in my vehicle. We both have neck and back pain, soft tissue damage and may have whiplash. My gf has one herniated disc and 3 bulging discs in her back now. The chiropractor thinks I have damage in my neck, and sent me for an MRI today. We filed a personal injury suit, not because we are letigious people, but to to cover our butts and be sure we didn't get screwed by the inusrance companies. I wonder if we receive any kind of settlement from the personal injury suit, will the Trustee take my portion away from me?

I searched here and online but really didn't come up with much. The guy the personal injury atty sent to my house said no, the Trustee can't take any settlement from me that I receive after my bk is filed. I don't know if I believe that.

Anyone else here have any experience with this situation? I appreciate any help you can offer.

Jimmy

[newbie2]

Hello all,

I have been reading here for a long time but this is my first post. I am filing Ch. 7 here in Orlando, FL. I was on a payment plan with my attorney, got all the fees paid last month and they filed my Ch. 7 case this past Friday, May 14th. They say I will have my 341 meeting probably late June or early in July and be discharged maybe in September or October. There are a lot of cases being filed here, and I am no exception. I had over $22K in unsecured debts and credit cards, with no real hope of ever paying it off. I took the last Debtor Education Course online Monday night so am waiting now for notice of my 341.

On March 29th I was in a car wreck. It was not my fault. My girlfriend was with me in my vehicle. We both have neck and back pain, soft tissue damage and may have whiplash. My gf has one herniated disc and 3 bulging discs in her back now. The chiropractor thinks I have damage in my neck, and sent me for an MRI today. We filed a personal injury suit, not because we are letigious people, but to to cover our butts and be sure we didn't get screwed by the inusrance companies. I wonder if we receive any kind of settlement from the personal injury suit, will the Trustee take my portion away from me?

I searched here and online but really didn't come up with much. The guy the personal injury atty sent to my house said no, the Trustee can't take any settlement from me that I receive after my bk is filed. I don't know if I believe that.

Anyone else here have any experience with this situation? I appreciate any help you can offer.

Jimmy

I may be mistaken, but I do believe that you have to report that you have filed a personal injury lawsuit because the accident occurred before you filed bk. Did you ask your bankruptcy attorney about this, or just the guy who came to your house that is representing you in the injury claim?

[keepmine]

Your bk lawyer needs to know this ASAP.

[Jimmy9190]

Yes I did tell my bk atty about it. I had to sign 3 different disclaimers stating the bk atty told me that the trustee can take away any settlemement I may receive, and that I would not hold the bk atty responsible. The guy the PI atty sent to my house was just an investigator. He took all the details of the accident and our injuries and we signed a lot of paperwork. I don't think he knows very much about bk law and how it applies to a PI suit when you file a ch 7.

I think that it would probably take 6 months if I receive a settlement at all. Even then, I don't think it would be very much money. By that I mean $3,000.00 or less. But it would come after I filed, so I would hope to be able to keep it. My bk atty said the Trustee makes the decision whether to keep it. One person at the bk atty said the Trustee will probably leave it alone if it is such a small amount, as settlements go. Another person at the bk atty said they Trustee will probably take any settlement I may get. They both said I have to let the Trustee know about the possibility of a settlement, which I have done already through the bk atty. I think both people I talked to at the bk atty's office are not really lawyers, they are paralegals who may or may not know the actual law and procedure.

Thanks for the help here.

Jimmy

[keepmine]

But it would come after I filed, so I would hope to be able to keep it.

That's not the issue. The cause of action occured prior to your filing so the legal claim is property of the bk estate.

[newbie2]

Yes I did tell my bk atty about it. I had to sign 3 different disclaimers stating the bk atty told me that the trustee can take away any settlemement I may receive, and that I would not hold the bk atty responsible. The guy the PI atty sent to my house was just an investigator. He took all the details of the accident and our injuries and we signed a lot of paperwork. I don't think he knows very much about bk law and how it applies to a PI suit when you file a ch 7.

I think that it would probably take 6 months if I receive a settlement at all. Even then, I don't think it would be very much money. By that I mean $3,000.00 or less. But it would come after I filed, so I would hope to be able to keep it. My bk atty said the Trustee makes the decision whether to keep it. One person at the bk atty said the Trustee will probably leave it alone if it is such a small amount, as settlements go. Another person at the bk atty said they Trustee will probably take any settlement I may get. They both said I have to let the Trustee know about the possibility of a settlement, which I have done already through the bk atty. I think both people I talked to at the bk atty's office are not really lawyers, they are paralegals who may or may not know the actual law and procedure.

Thanks for the help here.

Jimmy

I'm glad you told your attorney about it and that he addressed it. The trustee may want to hold your case open for a bit, to see how much (if any) settlement money you receive. That doesn't mean that you won't receive a discharge, it just means that closing could take a bit longer.

Also, if your state allows cash exemptions make sure your attorney addresses this in your petition. You may be able to exempt a portion of the future settlement money.

[Jimmy9190]

I just talked to my atty and they explained to me I can keep $5,000.00 in assets (settlement money) in a ch. 7 in Florida, if I have no other assets to start with. If I owned my home, which I don't, I could only keep $1,000.00 in assets.

I have no assets other than maybe $500.00 of household items, and I still owe more on my truck than it is worth. In fact my truck is worth a lot less now that it was nearly totaled in the accident. I owe about $3500.00 and was hoping I could use any settelement money to pay it off completely. Then I would have just my basic living expenses like my half of the mortgage (house belongs to my girlfriend, I am not on the mortgage at all, I just pay half the payment), utilities, gas, insurance, food and cell phone bill. I could live within my means and not owe anybody anything, which would be a very welcome relief.

Thanks for the help here. I feel better now.

Jimmy