how much in bank account?

[arkanimal]

hello-

getting ready to file, just curious how much people left in their bank accounts, and/or how much they exempted. i am no asset ch.7 and don't own much, so i have a lot of free exemption leeway...can i leave 4-500 bucks in my bank account and exempt it? i have bills coming up and so need the money soon anyway...

any guidance is appreciated.

thank you.

[justbroke]

I know you'll hate the answer, but it depends.

It depends on the exemptions allowed in your State, Washington, along with whether there is an exclusion to exempting larges amounts of cash!!! Yes, some States may have very healthy wildcard exemptions in the thousands of dollars, but disallow exempting more than $500 of cash!

Point of fact, in Washington, under Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 6.15.010 (3)(b), you can't exempt more than $200 in cash under the Statute.

Fortunately, in Washington, you can choose to use the Federal Exemptions.

Best to just spend the money BEFORE filing. Don't write checks as they may not post by filing date. Make sure the amount is low. Most people have less than $100 in the bank on the day that they file. Trustees have been known to ask debtors, at the 341 Meeting, if they have their checkbook and account statement. Then the Trustee asks them to write the Trustee a check for the balance -- less exemptions -- on the filing date!

[RichM]

Pre-pay the bills and tap out the account. That's what my attorney suggested I do. I think I had about $0.37 in my checking account when I filed.

-Rich

[help1234]

Hi, Washington filer also. If you use state exemptions, you can only have LESS than $200 cash (and this does include checking accounts) on the day of filing. It does not matter if you have left over exemptions from other areas. Our trustee required banking statements showing available balance on day of filing. Don't know about federal exemptions if you are using that.

[arkanimal]

ok...thanks for your responses...i am using fed exemptions as i have not lived here for 2 years straight yet. if i do empty bank account, do they want to see a record of all recent transactions? i know i have to bring a bank statement to the 341, which i will get the same day i file so the amounts agree...but do they just want the balance or to see each and every transaction?

thanks again for your help...

[free2breathe]

Mostly interested in the balance on the date of filing-however if any unusual large amounts either depositied or withdrawn show on the statement, it might trigger a question.

[AngelinaCat]

We were told to have as close to a zero balance in our account as possible, on the day we filed. It so happened that we were a little overdrawn...

[chicagoannie]

I had .14 in my account when I filed...all I had to my name.

[help1234]

We had to show 6 months of bank statements (with transactions) and then provide a print out with transactions/balance between the last statement and filing. There was a large ($2,000) cash withdrawal about a month before we filed for home maintenance that was too large to run with the store on our debit card. Our trustee did ask about it.. we explained and offered the receipt showing the purchase within minutes of the withdrawal. No problem. She did not ask about any of the other transactions. We paid everything due before the next pay day by using online bill pay with the bank, stocked up on groceries, filled the tanks of our cars, etc. so on filing day, we only had about $100.

[arkanimal]

thanks to everyone for your guidance. i have read that others used the wildcard from the homestead exemption to cover cash, but think i will run it down below 100 just to be safe. Help1234, that was the info i was looking for - thanks. very cool of you all to come back to this forum and help those of us stuck in this situation.

best of luck.