Oh my, what a day!
Well, my apologies up front for the lengthy post, but here's the blow-by-blow:
We got to the meeting place abotu 25 minutes early and sat and listened to probably 10 cases prior to ours. We didn't know it yet, but ours was the very last case.
As debtor after debtor went before the trustee ahead of us, I got more and more nervous. This trustee wasn't just asking a few questions and there were a lot of "I'm continuing this case for...." from him. Ever single case ahead of us had an attorney... so we were the only pro-se filers that were there.
When he asked the "why did you file" question to everyone... there were a lot of "divorce", "illness" and "job loss" answers... in fact, we were the only ones who's answer WASN'T one of these.
Finally we get up there... He asks his questions... None of which were tough. He didn't even blink on my explanation of why we filed.. "my job moved, we had to finish a remodel before we moved and then expenses in the new state were a lot higher than we expected."
He never even asked us about our income or expenses, he never questioned any of our exemptions... contrary to what that ******* attorney we were working with said, he didn't even ask about the cafeteria plan "income" on my paycheck stubs.
He then says, "Normally I'd ask you for some statement history due to the large amount of unsecured debt, but I see that you have already provided a substantial amount of information to the US trustee and he has informed me that he is satisfied, so, thank you, have a nice day, you should receive your discharge in about 60 days."
Can you believe it? After that ******* attorney was telling us that we'd have very little chance of getting a chapter 7 and then it would only be if we fought tooth and nail... we breeze through it with no problems.
This went better than my wildest dreams. I figured we'd AT LEAST have to wait for the 60 days to find out if the US trustee was satisfied or if they were going to object... but nope. We're done. All we have to do is wait the 60 days and collect our discharge.
I'm really hoping that our case shows some of you out there that you CAN do this, you CAN do it yourself and, most importantly, that you can NOT rely on your attorney to "do it right". It is very much in your best interest to do your own research, make sure that what your attorney is saying matches up with what your research is telling you or that you know WHY it is different.
If we had listened to our attorney, we'd be out yet another $1000 in attorney fees and we'd be waiting for confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan that we couldn't afford.
Instead, we're kicking back, waiting for the discharge!
Thank you everyone for the fantastic help and information. I really do not think that we would have had as easy of a time of it if we had not had this forum to help us.
Now, I have to catch a plane to Dallas for a training class for work... but beliee me, I'll be on here lots in the coming days and weeks... just in a LOT better mood than I have been in the PAST days and weeks!
Donald
Well, my apologies up front for the lengthy post, but here's the blow-by-blow:
We got to the meeting place abotu 25 minutes early and sat and listened to probably 10 cases prior to ours. We didn't know it yet, but ours was the very last case.
As debtor after debtor went before the trustee ahead of us, I got more and more nervous. This trustee wasn't just asking a few questions and there were a lot of "I'm continuing this case for...." from him. Ever single case ahead of us had an attorney... so we were the only pro-se filers that were there.
When he asked the "why did you file" question to everyone... there were a lot of "divorce", "illness" and "job loss" answers... in fact, we were the only ones who's answer WASN'T one of these.
Finally we get up there... He asks his questions... None of which were tough. He didn't even blink on my explanation of why we filed.. "my job moved, we had to finish a remodel before we moved and then expenses in the new state were a lot higher than we expected."
He never even asked us about our income or expenses, he never questioned any of our exemptions... contrary to what that ******* attorney we were working with said, he didn't even ask about the cafeteria plan "income" on my paycheck stubs.
He then says, "Normally I'd ask you for some statement history due to the large amount of unsecured debt, but I see that you have already provided a substantial amount of information to the US trustee and he has informed me that he is satisfied, so, thank you, have a nice day, you should receive your discharge in about 60 days."
Can you believe it? After that ******* attorney was telling us that we'd have very little chance of getting a chapter 7 and then it would only be if we fought tooth and nail... we breeze through it with no problems.
This went better than my wildest dreams. I figured we'd AT LEAST have to wait for the 60 days to find out if the US trustee was satisfied or if they were going to object... but nope. We're done. All we have to do is wait the 60 days and collect our discharge.
I'm really hoping that our case shows some of you out there that you CAN do this, you CAN do it yourself and, most importantly, that you can NOT rely on your attorney to "do it right". It is very much in your best interest to do your own research, make sure that what your attorney is saying matches up with what your research is telling you or that you know WHY it is different.
If we had listened to our attorney, we'd be out yet another $1000 in attorney fees and we'd be waiting for confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan that we couldn't afford.
Instead, we're kicking back, waiting for the discharge!
Thank you everyone for the fantastic help and information. I really do not think that we would have had as easy of a time of it if we had not had this forum to help us.
Now, I have to catch a plane to Dallas for a training class for work... but beliee me, I'll be on here lots in the coming days and weeks... just in a LOT better mood than I have been in the PAST days and weeks!
Donald
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