Salary checks can i cash them and hide them before aapplying for BK

[monk]

Salary checks can i cash them and hide them before applying for BK???

[BigJohn]

When they ask you where do you work, what are you going to tell them?
When they ask you for tax returns, will the tax returns uncover where you work?
When they ask you for credit reports, will the reports reveal where you work?

[JRScott]

Hiding assets is not good. If you get caught you will be charged with bankruptcy fraud. Plus as John above said they'll find out on this.

[Phillymanhere]

People on this board strongly discourage "hiding" things. Hiding assets or money constitutes fraud as you are misleading the court and your signature will be on all documents. Whether for ethics or for fear of getting caught and sanctioned, people here don't support hiding or lying.

If you're new to all of this, you are getting way way ahead of yourself. You need to meet with 3 or 4 local bk attorneys for a free consultation. The attorney you hire can give you the best legal advice for protecting money from the court. Depending on how much money you have, and the state your live in and the way the law is interpreted in your area, you may be able to protect it working within the confines of the law. Or your lawyer may tell you to spend it on certain very legitimate items (food, clothes, medical, dental, car even).

Anyway good luck.

[Flamingo]

Salary checks can i cash them and hide them before applying for BK???

First, there is an old saying, "You can run but you can't hide." Secondly, you are trying to commit fraud and can easily be found out. No one on this forum will advise you to commit fraud. And, how on earthy do you think you can hide money received from an employer which is easily available via a search of your SS number and other means?

[momof5]

I assume by salary checks you mean paycheck. I think alot of us 'hid' or whatever you want to call it our last pay if it would have still been in the bank on the date of filing. While most paycheck money if accounted for in your income wont need to be hiden you still dont want to have a large sum in your checking on the date of the 341.

It sounds like your way ahead of having to worry about this yet though and probably by the time you meet with an attorney and are ready to file you will find that you most likely dont need to even think about hiding anything.

I can give you a little bit of extra advice also from experience as I had my 341 in June. We had what our 'wanna be attorney' described as a really nice trustee. She made it seem like we were just soooooo lucky to have had this trustee. My point is: It wouldnt have mattered if we had a nice one or a vicious mean one... we had nothing to hide! Bankruptcy is fairly clear cut as long as you stay honest from the begining. Trust me you will be very glad of sticking by that honesty thing the day of your 341.

[southernbelle]

I wouldn't advise it. As many have said before, the court will find out and your entire case could be thrown out. It's not worth the risk if you really need relief from BK. Meet with 3-4 attys to get a better handle on what you should expect.

[Tom_Mi]

I'm confused. I've read we are advised to file with an empty bank account.

Isn't this person just asking if they can cash a paycheck a few days prior to filing?

I'm not really sure what the issue is here. How do you empty your bank account prior to filing, if you aren't cashing a paycheck?

Dont' get me wrong...I want to do this correctly...but I'm confused how you're gonna file with an empty bank account if you dont cash a paycheck.

[momof5]

I'm not really sure what the issue is here. How do you empty your bank account prior to filing, if you aren't cashing a paycheck?

.

What we did and what I have read many times here is to withdraw my husbands last paycheck prior to filing. It was a fairly large withdrawal in BK terms. We did get lucky in that the Trustee never asked about it but had he asked we could very easily have proven where this money went. We paid a car payment and equity loan payment with it,purchased groceries & gas(saved all receipts,even one for a dinner at Mcdonalds,just in case).

I did not consider this 'hiding' money but rather protecting money that we desperately needed to survive for the month. The attorney told us not to have more than a few dollars in the account on the actual day of filing. Even money in your account reserved to pay an outstanding check on the date of filing your BK is considered fair game for the Trustee.

I also cannot help but wonder if the original poster didnt really mean "hide" money but rather 'protect' paycheck money

[Flamingo]

It's simple logic. If you make $X.XX every two weeks and have $X.XX in your checking account to cover the bills that you are listing in your BK, you have no worry. Most people in the throws of filing BK do not have much extra cash sitting in any account and really have nothing to worry about when it comes to payroll checks which can be accounted for. The problems arise if one has a lot of funds in an account that cannot be accounted for and quickly tries to transfer money out to avoid detection. Trying to hide any funds is not a good thing and they almost always get discovered...too much risk to be dishonest.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I'm confused. I've read we are advised to file with an empty bank account.

Isn't this person just asking if they can cash a paycheck a few days prior to filing?

I'm not really sure what the issue is here. How do you empty your bank account prior to filing, if you aren't cashing a paycheck?

Dont' get me wrong...I want to do this correctly...but I'm confused how you're gonna file with an empty bank account if you dont cash a paycheck.

As stated by others, it is good to draw down your bank account on EXEMPT stuff you would need to survive. Not to hide funds. This is not illegal but to hide funds or assets is. I got mine busted out of ignorance and plead to all others to keep it "up front". Mine was ignorance, but I could have been tossed. To date, I've been cut slack. I am lucky. 'Hub

[bmrigs]

Ok I have a question. Since Im self employed and my work involves repairs and renovations on peoples houses as a contractor, my income only comes from the people that hire me to do this work. I make deposits to my bank account to pay bills buy dont have check stubs. So how is this going to be accepted by a Trustee?

[BKParalegal]

When you are self-employed, the trustee or more importantly the BK Court requires that you file a 6 month P&L, and if question about your expenses, than you will need to show proof.

Good Luck

[bmrigs]

When you are self-employed, the trustee or more importantly the BK Court requires that you file a 6 month P&L, and if question about your expenses, than you will need to show proof.

Good Luck

Does P&L mean profit loss sheet? Is there a form for this?

[Tom_Mi]

Guys, here's my problem...I'm going to receive about a 4,000 check 4 days prior to filing.

It's rent proceeds from my management company. The bank wouldn't take it because I'm behind on the payments more than that. (3 apartment buildings). They'll only accept certified funds for the 12,000 or so the apartments are behind (not my fault...long series of problems I couldn't control).

From this thread, I'm assuming cashing the check would be a very bad thing..so I WONT do it.

Should I just forget it and assume that check belongs to the trustee?

• Make an IRA contribution? - I have a self-directed Roth, and I'd be happy to put it there, but I dont' want to get in trouble making a deposit to it.
• Could I stock up on work clothes, school stuff for kids?
• Pay my kids' YMCA membership a few months in advance?
• Buy extra non-perishable groceries? 4,000 would buy a lot of groceries. This would seem weird.

Regarding this matter, does my attorney (meeting Monday) have the authority to give me advice that's in my best interest?

-t