filing in nebraska

[sker20]

i just started the filing process, i've done quite a bit of research and feel pretty comfortable filling out the forms. I have just a couple questions.
1) when i spoke to a lawyer for a "free consultation" I was told as long as i file relatively soon i wont have to worry about next years income tax refund being brought into discussion. does this mean i dont have to do anything to ensure this?
2) my wife is a stay at home mom, but was doing a home party business for a while (one of those deals where you go to someones house with all their friends and people buy home decor items and the person selling gets a % of what is sold) she did it for a few months and made around $1500 probably, but she didn't get paychecks for this or anything, she just kept the difference between what the company charged her for the product and what she sold the product for. how do i show "proof" of this income?

thanks.

[justbroke]

If you file anytime during the year through December, the income tax "refund" will need to be exempted (period). Many people have lost their refund because they thought that Trustees don't want a prorated portion of it. If you filed in August -- your bankruptcy Estate -- would be entitled to 58% of any refund because that's 7 out of 12 months.

If your wife's income isn't in the 6-month lookback period, don't worry about it. If her income is within the period, just claim the amount. I have never read or heard about any Trustee complaining that you put too much money in income. It's usually the opposite that they want you to prove.

[sker20]

thanks. also, we are recently married and I'm not filing joint. Since everything was pre-marriage do i need to include her property in schedule B?

[justbroke]

What you just asked is the $24,000 question. I personally think it depends if it's considered marital property. If you are in a community property State, this may change things.

If you do list her property, make sure you code it as "W" (Wife). Make sure you code yours as "H" (Husband).

[sker20]

so i can list just what is mine (H) and what is ours (J), but don't need to list what is hers (W)?

[justbroke]

I'm saying it may be District specific and State specific (due to issues with Community Property States). Definitely list all Joint and Husband-only property. I can't advice you on the items owned by your non-filing Spouse that was her personal property prior to being married.

[sker20]

in the Nolo "How to file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy" book it says, "When only one spouse files for bankruptcy in a common law property state, all of that spouse’s separate property plus half of the couple’s jointly owned property go into the filing spouse’s bankruptcy estate."

so going by this I only need to exempt half of the jointly owned property. do i need to show this somewhere or reference a specific law?

[justbroke]

I don't think you're in a community property state. If you are, the real question is whether the property IS really community property if it was property of the non-filing spouse prior to the marriage. That would be "her" personal property... not community property. Also, re-read what it says... it says "jointly" held property.

If you have or she has, significant personal property which you can't exempt, and you are having issues figuring out whether it needs to be exempted, you probably need an attorney. We just had another pro se filer on this board who had failed to properly exempt stuff and has stirred up other trouble with some transfers.

If you don't have any "equity" in any property... this is really all moot.

[MsNeLaw]

Nebraska is not a community property state. If you are not filing joint, you still have to include their income on Schedule I and household expenses on Schedule J. You also have to include property that is considered "community" such as household goods on Schedule F and you have to list their income on the Means Test.