Filed and had funds in bank account.

[kartoons19]

I believe in FL. it's anything over $182 in your account that they can go after, my pension is from a construction union so it is not exempt. Lawyer wanted checking account down to $20 on day of filing, but pension was deposited a day early for some unknown reason. Filed the 31st and pension normally doesn't show up till the 1st. No way to exempt it so if trustee wants to take it-----they can !!!

I still think it is more than the exemptions, its also if the amount is large enough to go after. The money I had in my accounts and available for the trustee to take wasn't protected at all. Still the trustee decided not to take it. Even though you have unprotected money in your account, hopefully the amount is small enough that the trustee will decide to not bother with it. Good luck to you.

[kartoons19]

does money in the bank actually mean what your balance was as of the day you filed? And we have two accounts that records have been monitored for, business and personal.. does that mean balance between the two? As soon as money was deposited, it went right back out for bills etc, but our schedules show $1000 in the bank..which I think is incorrect and about to be amended anyway. Just not sure if they mean extra thats been sitting there or any balance for that day.?

They will look at the balance of all accounts (personal and business) on the day you filed. So if you have $1000 in your account and on the following day a check cleared to pay your bills or the money was withdrawn, the trustee will still look at the actual amount you had the day you filed. That's why it is recommended to get money orders to pay for bills prior to filing. Don't use checks because they can take a little time to clear. Good luck to you.

[artgood]

Ok... so we have not filed yet (meet with lawyer next week), but want to get this started quickly. We've stopped paying CCs and loans (all unsecured) and will have more money than usual sitting around... of course we'll have to pay our lawyer.

What do we do? I am about ready to fill up our propane tank for the winter (for our home) and both vehicles need brake jobs. Is it OK to take care of those things after we file, or do we need to do it before?

Is it money IN THE BANK that matters most? If we just cash our paychecks and keep the cash to pay bills/expenses is that OK?

I'm sorry to ask... this is just confusing to me.

[teek76]

We have been soooo poorly advised by our attorney. We weren't told to watch what we had in our accounts or any of that. My husband said that actually when he filled out his schedules, our attorney asked him what's an average balance of your account at any given time in the month? HELLO.. apparently accuracy is key here. He said $1000 because we never have money just sitting around..it's either for business materials and supplies and bills or it's being spent in personal for groceries, house payment etc. When I look online today at the monthly statement for the bank account, it shows a daily balance summary for our file date of $5freakingthousand and something. Holy crappppp..so what now? We were already fixing to amend our schedules, but will they demand a check for this amount for the trustee (clearly we dont have $5K sitting around) or will they take payments or how does that work. I am so upset. This entire thing is a disaster.

[tobee43]

honesty, and really...you at the time of your 341, most likely have already provided at least 6 months of bank statements....

they don't call your bank that morning to check your balance...i thought at the time fl was $150....it doesn't matter because it's based on an average AFTER you have paid your bills...which MOST people do with their bank accounts...

so let's just say you just had a deposit made of $2000 on the morning of your 341.....and it's sept 28....and you have to pay your oct bills...rent food...etc...what??? you think they will take that money...no...they will not.

what they look for is consistency...if out of that 2000 dollars you have 1000 rent...500 food....200 for utilities....150 for gas etc...most likely you'll get to your $150 average based balance...so it's based on the average balance after you have paid your expenses...

not to say if you had a deposit of the lottery winnings of 7.5 million the afternoon of your 341 there wouldn't be a question...

[kartoons19]

Ok... so we have not filed yet (meet with lawyer next week), but want to get this started quickly. We've stopped paying CCs and loans (all unsecured) and will have more money than usual sitting around... of course we'll have to pay our lawyer.

What do we do? I am about ready to fill up our propane tank for the winter (for our home) and both vehicles need brake jobs. Is it OK to take care of those things after we file, or do we need to do it before?

Is it money IN THE BANK that matters most? If we just cash our paychecks and keep the cash to pay bills/expenses is that OK?

I'm sorry to ask... this is just confusing to me.

On the schedules it does ask how much money you will have in your account on filing day. Whatever cash you have in the account could be protected, if your district has a cash exemption or wildcard that would cover the amount. At the 341 the trustee could ask you to bring your bank account statements so he/she can check the balance on filing day. This is not always a given. In fact at my 341, I got there an hour early and the trustee did not ask to see anyone's bank statements, except for mine! He wanted to see mine because my attorney put "unknown" on the schedules for bank balance.

In order to lower the amount of money you have on filing day, you can take out money orders and pay some of your bills ahead of time. I prepaid a 6 month car insurance bill that was due the next month. I also paid my rent a week early and stocked up the kitchen with food. Do you have any car repairs that you've put off? How about a visit to the doctor? As long as they are normal living expenses, you can use that money to pay for them. Just don't use checks, so you don't have a problem with them not being cleared on filing day and save your receipts. Hope this helps.

[05mag]

My pension is a direct deposit that showed processing for most of the day, then about 7pm it showed as deposited. I had no chance to take out the money as it didn't show as a balance till after the bank had closed.

[kartoons19]

We have been soooo poorly advised by our attorney. We weren't told to watch what we had in our accounts or any of that. My husband said that actually when he filled out his schedules, our attorney asked him what's an average balance of your account at any given time in the month? HELLO.. apparently accuracy is key here. He said $1000 because we never have money just sitting around..it's either for business materials and supplies and bills or it's being spent in personal for groceries, house payment etc. When I look online today at the monthly statement for the bank account, it shows a daily balance summary for our file date of $5freakingthousand and something. Holy crappppp..so what now? We were already fixing to amend our schedules, but will they demand a check for this amount for the trustee (clearly we dont have $5K sitting around) or will they take payments or how does that work. I am so upset. This entire thing is a disaster.

Does your district have a high cash exemption or wildcard that can be used to protect the money? Maybe that is why your attorney wasn't worried about it. Also Tobee is right in that by the time your 341 comes around the trustee will have access to your previous statements and can see that you normally don't have $5K sitting around not being used for bills. I would suggest talking to your attorney and see what he/she says about it. I was concerned about the unprotected money I had in my account when I filed and my attorney assured me it would be okay, and it was. Hopefully that will be the case for you as well.

[rmd]

I was told they won't take that money out of our account, we still have bills and expenses that are do. They aren't going to wipe you clean unless you have an access amount in there over what you need to get through the month. When we filed we had 1800 in there, my husband just got paid, but we still have our student loans, house payment and childcare that has to come oout, that won't leave a whole lot there...unless it is a crazy amount, I wouldn't worry about it...in my opinion!