Pre-bankruptcy "blunders" to avoid
If I hadn't had several months to think this through and had a chance to research both online and at the library, I might have made some horrific mistakes leading up to filing this summer. 
No cash advances on my one still active credit card (70 days before filing at a minimum and longer if possible); no payments of more than $600 total to any one creditor in the 90 days before filing (my attorney said secured loans and utilities don't count); keep paying on anything secured you intend to keep (reaffirm) and not give up to BK in a Chap 7; if you did make a large charge on a card in the months before filing, make some payments to appear to be keeping current, especially if it wasn't for necessities and could be considered a luxury item.
Don't repay a loan given to you by a relative --- within a year, they may be sued by the trustee to recover those funds! Don't give a relative a large sum of money to pay a bill for them; pay it directly yourself such as to the dentist, doctor, etc, or trustee might think it was a transfer to hide funds. Don't keep getting pay direct deposited, especially if that bank or credit union is also where you have a loan or credit card that will be included in BK. They can grab it!
Don't toss any receipts, bank statements, correspondence from creditors, and if you are missing any of above for the past year, see if you can get duplicates. Never assume that the court will take anything you tell it "on trust" --- document, document, document anything and everything dealing with your money and assets.
Don't take fewer exemptions on your W-4 for withholding taxes than allowed or next year your nice fat refund will be bulging in the trustee's wallet, not yours. And dont forget the state withholding, too. (I had to scurry on over last month to human resources at work to adjust that! My federal were good, but they had the state at zero exemptions; I wondered why I got a large state refund this year....not a gift from them, just free use of my money for the year.)
Other posters want to chime in here?
No cash advances on my one still active credit card (70 days before filing at a minimum and longer if possible); no payments of more than $600 total to any one creditor in the 90 days before filing (my attorney said secured loans and utilities don't count); keep paying on anything secured you intend to keep (reaffirm) and not give up to BK in a Chap 7; if you did make a large charge on a card in the months before filing, make some payments to appear to be keeping current, especially if it wasn't for necessities and could be considered a luxury item.
Don't repay a loan given to you by a relative --- within a year, they may be sued by the trustee to recover those funds! Don't give a relative a large sum of money to pay a bill for them; pay it directly yourself such as to the dentist, doctor, etc, or trustee might think it was a transfer to hide funds. Don't keep getting pay direct deposited, especially if that bank or credit union is also where you have a loan or credit card that will be included in BK. They can grab it!
Don't toss any receipts, bank statements, correspondence from creditors, and if you are missing any of above for the past year, see if you can get duplicates. Never assume that the court will take anything you tell it "on trust" --- document, document, document anything and everything dealing with your money and assets.
Don't take fewer exemptions on your W-4 for withholding taxes than allowed or next year your nice fat refund will be bulging in the trustee's wallet, not yours. And dont forget the state withholding, too. (I had to scurry on over last month to human resources at work to adjust that! My federal were good, but they had the state at zero exemptions; I wondered why I got a large state refund this year....not a gift from them, just free use of my money for the year.)
Other posters want to chime in here?
Comment