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**StaciMM** · 02-13-2006, 12:53 PM

What you're allowed to keep is based on your state's exemptions. No one comes to your house, as long as you're honest regarding what things are worth. DO NOT GIVE ANYTHING TO ANYONE in an effort to hide it! That will cause an issue for sure. Its hard to tell you if anything in particular will be an issue, because we don't know what state you live in or what your items are worth.

If you are current on the house, you should be fine to keep it. Its rare to have trouble keeping your checking account-the exception would be if its a credit union where you also have debt. (And if that is the case, you could probably open another account before filing.) Spending tax refund $$ on reasonable expenses before filing is probably something the attorney will recommend.

**niteflytes** · 02-13-2006, 01:07 PM

I forgot to mention I live in Indiana. I understand about not giving things away to hide them but what about things that my mom gave me and she wants them back because I'm considering filing bk? I guess I don't understand about what would be considered trying to hide things. If it's stuff that I never purchased and was given to me and I give it back is that hiding?

**niteflytes** · 02-13-2006, 01:08 PM

Also meant to add that I have credit card debt with the same bank I have my accounts with. Would it be a good idea to switch banks?

**Graphic** · 02-13-2006, 01:25 PM

Well from what I've found Indiana doesn't have a 'vehicle exemption' but they do have 4,000 in 'Wildcard' exemptions. So you could use it towards your car, real estate or any other tangible property. Hopefully you don't have more than 4k equity in the vehicle. So if it's worth 10k and the car is paid for you would have to pay 6k to the court to keep the car. (Over a year). That's only if you use the wildcard towards that. If you don't have equity in the car you can keep it.

You won't necessarily lose your checking account, I don't think the bank will close it just because you file, unless you put them on the petition as a debt. However I wouldn't have a lot of money in the bank account at the time because they can take it to pay creditors. Just make sure you have documents showing where the money goes when you do spend the cash.. get receipts. Stock up on food if you have to or other 'necessities'

Same thing goes with the refund check. Don't go buy a tv or something lol make sure it is a bill or necessary item.

As far as the furniture goes those are touchy situations to me. It's technically yours because it was a gift. So if it's worth a lot they might want it. I dont know. I wouldn't give the stuff back to her because that could get you into some trouble--ask the lawyer about it to make sure. The computers can be taken as well. Of course if they are sort of outdated and not worth much to the court there's a good chance they won't bother with them.

Most appliances are attached to the house so they more than likely won't take them unless you foreclose the house. Lawnmower could be .. like i said according to value.. Plus if you bought it on a secured credit card (Sears, Lowes etc) the store type cards.. they can take it back if they want it or if it's worth it to them.

Anyways tons of stuff just research the best you can. Don't take everything I say to be positive.. Lawyers will be able to narrow down and help you the most.

Goodluck

**SinkingFast** · 02-13-2006, 01:44 PM

There's a section of this Forum where every State's exemptions are listed. You can check there for your state and see what you are allowed in $$ values to keep. I'd also suggest you try looking at your State's .gov website. My old home state recently updated their exemptions. The new state we live in just updated theirs a year ago. The old exemptions for both states are still what's shown on attny's websites. So you might wanna verify it for sure.

1. Is someone going to come into my house and take inventory of what I have and tell me what I can/can't keep? How exactly does this work? Will they take my appliances, lawn mower, computer? I kind of need those things.

The Court can do that, but typically they don't. If the Trustee wants to verify your household goods, they will arrange for an inspection that someone else does. Trustees don't go to people's homes, as a rule. At least that's what attnys here have told us. The law specifies you are allowed 1 computer. More may be a problem if you break all your household goods out and itemize them. There is one attny here doing exactly that. I've seen his new BK petitions and he lists every single major item people own. Sofa, loveseat, dining table and chairs, etc. He lumps kitchen items like dishes, pots and pans, and flatware together. And he lumps clothing together as well. Other attnys aren't doing that at all.

2. I have to keep my car for my job. My job requires travel and I have to have reliable transportation. Do they take this into account?

Check your state's exemptions. Most states specify a $$ amount you can exempt for a vehicle(s).

3. Will I lose my checking account? I don't know what to do/expect with bank accounts. My check is direct deposited.

You won't loose your checking acct. Just the money in it, if you can't exempt it, on the day you file. If you can, stop the direct deposits and start getting paid by check. You'll have better control over the amount of funds available. The day you file, that money can belong to the Trustee. Also, start paying for every major bill you'd normally write a check for with Money Orders or Cashier's Checks. Don't want any bounced checks floating around out there because the Trustee took the money in your checking acct. Plus, the added advantage is the money is automatically gone. Our landlord sometimes takes 3 weeks to cash our rent checks. That could be a problem so now we pay her with a Cashier's Check from the bank. Also, if one of your Credit Cards is on the Bank you have your checking acct with, you may have signed an agreement that allows the bank to deduct CC amounts due directly from your checking without going thru you.

4. My daughter has some savings and a checking acct and because she's a minor my name is on her accounts. Will she lose her money?

Your daughter's money is her money as far as your BK goes, IF she does not contribute to the household expenses. Just to be on the safe side, get your name off her accts. The Court could trace your Soc Sec number to her acct and that could cause problems. Check with your bank and see if they have a "Trust" department or person. The bank can fill out paperwork for your daughter to assign things to be done on her behalf since she is a minor. I just had to do the same with my Mother. I was on her acct to pay her bills when she's sick or in the hospital. Attny said get off the acct. If the Trustee finds it thru my Soc Sec number they can take the money. We set her up with the Trust person and now the bank will pay her bills when she's sick or in the hospital.

5. I should get my tax refund before March 1st. If I spend it before I even meet with the lawyer is that a bad thing to do? I have some bills I need to pay with it and some things I have to get for my daughter's education.

Spend your tax refund before you retain an attny and/or file BK. A Consult is not the same as filing. Once you have filed, the tax return would automatically belong to the Trustee. So do your taxes, get that refund, and spend it for necessary things before you file for BK. Be sure to keep receipts too. After you file BK, the Trustee can come back next year and ask for next year's refund. They will take their %, and return the rest to you. Say you file for BK the end of March this year, the Trustee will be entitled to 25% of any refund you might receive next year. I think I got that right. Our attny is telling us to file our taxes, get the refund, and get it spent before we file this spring.

6. If there's things that I want to keep is it ok to give them away to my mom before I file? I'm not talking about anything big...just an extra TV, vcr, some furniture she gave me that she doesn't want to lose (such as her cedar chest, a rocking chair, desk), stuff like that.

Hiding stuff consitutes Fraud and can get your whole BK thrown out. Plus you can get fined and go to jail if they wanna be real hardnosed about it. When you value things, use replacement values. Where do you buy a 10 year old sofa?? Garage sales or Goodwill. That's how you establish values. Your things may mean a lot to you for sentimental reasons, but may not have very high "replacement" value. Unless you are talking a rare antique in great shape, I wouldn't worry about it. The Law specifically allows you a VCR so no worries there. The extra TV is technically a no-no if it's yours, but if your attny doesn't itemize each and every thing, and the Trustee doesn't order an inspection, it probably won't be an issue. I don't know of anyone's home that doesn't have more than one TV. In our case, our state has a little wild card exemption that allows for each dependent to exempt $350 worth of stuff not included in the general household things so we can cover extra TV's that way. Maybe your state has something similar so that an extra TV won't even be an issue.

7. I can't afford to move and I want to keep my house. I'm not behind on payments and I'll be able to make my payments after BK. Is it possible to keep the house?

You can file Ch 7 and keep your house. But that goes back to your state's exemptions. That's the homestead exemption. Depends on the amount of equity you have in your home, and your allowable homestead exemption.

Most of these questions, the attny can address for you specifically based on your state's exemptions. If you have recently moved to a different state, you'll have to be a resident there for 180 days before you can file BK. When you file BK after a move, and haven't lived in the new state 2 years yet, you'll have to use your old state's exemptions.

**SinkingFast** · 02-13-2006, 01:50 PM

Originally posted by niteflytes

I forgot to mention I live in Indiana. I understand about not giving things away to hide them but what about things that my mom gave me and she wants them back because I'm considering filing bk? I guess I don't understand about what would be considered trying to hide things. If it's stuff that I never purchased and was given to me and I give it back is that hiding?

Indiana exemptions were just updated last year. I don't know about the homestead part. We just moved here so we have to use old state's exemptions, even the homestead part for our house out there. But I do know other parts.

IN allows $8000 total in exemptions per filer. If a married couple jointly files, that $16000 total. You can use your $8K any way you want. It's not exclusive in that $X go to household and $X go to vehicles or whatnot. You can apply it any way you want.

**niteflytes** · 02-13-2006, 02:05 PM

Thanks for all the replies. I feel better prepared to speak to an attorney. One more question. Would it be wise to talk to several attorneys or wait and see how I feel about the one I have the appt with?

~Cat

**BassBoy** · 02-13-2006, 02:07 PM

Absolutely.

**Rona123** · 02-13-2006, 02:30 PM

Regarding your checking account, I would recommend that you plan on opening a new one. I'm not sure if it differs by state, but there is such a thing as cross-collateralization, which means that if you have a credit card with the same bank which whom you have a checking account, the bank could attempt to claim the money in your checking account to cover the CC debt.

Here is what I would recommend, as it worked well for me (so far). Keep your original checking account open for the time being, because you will need a final statement that shows your account balance on the day you filed. But be sure to cancel any and all direct deposits or automatic withdrawals to/from that account asap, and stop using it after the day you file. Then, on the day after you file, go open a checking account with a new bank and transfer all your electronic deposits to that account. You are free to open a new account after you file, and by doing so immediately after filing, you will hopefully avoid running into banks that refuse to open an account because you have filed BK, because it won't have shown up on any reports they choose to run before they open your account.

Hope this helps!

**SinkingFast** · 02-13-2006, 05:46 PM

Eeewwwwwww, Rona!! Aren't you crafty!! I appreciate the tip!!

Fire,........ I found a website with the updated IN exemptions for you.

It appears homestead is $7500 for one person. Here's the link for you to check out:

http://www.bjosephdavis.com/indiana-...exemptions.php

I would definitely chat with several attnys. We've had 2 phone Consults and 5 face to face visits. It gets to be like work, but you learn different things each time. We did so many because it took that long to find an attny we were comfortable with. We tried to retain one earlier but she wouldn't take us due to outa state exemptions. She said the New Law and her current work load were enough. She didn't wanna deal with that too.

**niteflytes** · 02-13-2006, 07:00 PM

Thanks, I'm definately going to shop around for the right attorney and not rush blindly into this decision.

Cat~

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