It's been a while since I've been on here, so I thought I'd post an update--in case anyone cares 
. On July 6, we had our (first) 341 meeting. It was a disaster. 
The couple before us did not have their sh*t together at all--they had paid her son about $5K only a few months before filing but couldn't produce an address for him; he didn't work but did odd jobs for people, but when asked the name of his business responded "Oh, it's not like a legitimate business"; and just generally couldn't answer half of the trustee's questions with any certainty. So the TT got testier and testier. Great, just what you want.
Our turn came up and rather than focusing on issues we were concerned about (primarily my income as a small business owner), he came up with four assets he wanted:
(1) my husband's car--which we knew was going to be an issue
(2) 25% of my husband's paycheck just before we filed--which our lawyer had said wouldn't be an issue!
(3) my anniversary band--which was definitely not above the exemption amount, but the TT said that he thought the new Ohio exemptions were for aggregate amounts, not one piece
(4) the money in our FSA account (pre-tax deduction for health care expenses).
He was generally nasty, his tone implying that we were trying to cheat the system. After about 20min of questioning, he set at continuation date for a month later.
So yesterday morning we went loaded for bear. We knew:
(1) how much we were willing to offer to buy back the car from the estate (2) what that 25% of the paycheck equaled
(3) that he was wrong about the jewelry exemption
(4) that he was dead wrong to think that the FSA money was part of the estate.
Our lawyer was running late, which didn't endear us to the TT and we were prepared for another bad 341. However when our attorney arrived, the TT said he wanted to talk to him without us. About 10min later, our attorney came out with the flat rate amount that would settle everything. It was a bit more than we had hoped, but no where near what we feared, so we signed off on it, told our lawyer he'd have a check from us for the TT within a week, and walked out, feeling a HUGE weight was off of our shoulders.
Since our 341 was continued, rather than starting off in the 60 Day Club, we've jumped into the 30 Day Club and, coincidentally, two days after our 17th anniversary, we should be getting our discharge. That will be a wonderful present.
If anyone is filing in Cleveland, OH, feel free to PM me about the TT. When we asked our attorney if he was always so harda**, he said, "Well, he has his moods." Um, yeah.
. On July 6, we had our (first) 341 meeting. It was a disaster. The couple before us did not have their sh*t together at all--they had paid her son about $5K only a few months before filing but couldn't produce an address for him; he didn't work but did odd jobs for people, but when asked the name of his business responded "Oh, it's not like a legitimate business"; and just generally couldn't answer half of the trustee's questions with any certainty. So the TT got testier and testier. Great, just what you want.
Our turn came up and rather than focusing on issues we were concerned about (primarily my income as a small business owner), he came up with four assets he wanted:
(1) my husband's car--which we knew was going to be an issue
(2) 25% of my husband's paycheck just before we filed--which our lawyer had said wouldn't be an issue!
(3) my anniversary band--which was definitely not above the exemption amount, but the TT said that he thought the new Ohio exemptions were for aggregate amounts, not one piece
(4) the money in our FSA account (pre-tax deduction for health care expenses).
He was generally nasty, his tone implying that we were trying to cheat the system. After about 20min of questioning, he set at continuation date for a month later.
So yesterday morning we went loaded for bear. We knew:
(1) how much we were willing to offer to buy back the car from the estate (2) what that 25% of the paycheck equaled
(3) that he was wrong about the jewelry exemption
(4) that he was dead wrong to think that the FSA money was part of the estate.
Our lawyer was running late, which didn't endear us to the TT and we were prepared for another bad 341. However when our attorney arrived, the TT said he wanted to talk to him without us. About 10min later, our attorney came out with the flat rate amount that would settle everything. It was a bit more than we had hoped, but no where near what we feared, so we signed off on it, told our lawyer he'd have a check from us for the TT within a week, and walked out, feeling a HUGE weight was off of our shoulders.
Since our 341 was continued, rather than starting off in the 60 Day Club, we've jumped into the 30 Day Club and, coincidentally, two days after our 17th anniversary, we should be getting our discharge. That will be a wonderful present.
If anyone is filing in Cleveland, OH, feel free to PM me about the TT. When we asked our attorney if he was always so harda**, he said, "Well, he has his moods." Um, yeah.
(first 341 10/14/09, cont'd 341 
:clapping 
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