Pro se and inheritance

[elsbelles]

I'm filing chapter 7 pro se on Nov 13. When my father died, I rec'd life insurance proceeds for $4,302 on Dec 1, 2011 and on May 8, 2012 I rec'd $2220 as a beneficiary from his IRA account. My income dropped about $500 in Aug 2011, so I've been living off my wages and my inheritance. I have about $1900 left and would like to know how to go about reporting this. I bought the Nolo ebook and have been reading this forum, but my brain is getting squishy from too much info. I guess I'm worried about being able to prove I spent it since I paid for a lot of things with cash.

[AngelinaCat]

Hello, and welcome to the forum.

You will need to supply bank statements for the six months prior to the date of your filing. You may also need to exempt or spend down the money you still have in your accounts.

When we filed Ch7, we were told by our attorney to have as close to $0.00 in our account as possible. Florida does not give generous exemptions beside the Homestead. Michigan will be different.

Did you keep receipts for any large purchases you made, such as a set of tires? If you did, you should be okay. Even if you didn't, general household expenses and repairs are understandable.

[LadyInTheRed]

You can have as much cash on the day of filing as you can exempt. In Michigan, you can chose Michigan or federal exemptions: http://www.legalconsumer.com/bankrup...T=MI#homestead. List the cash you have and apply an appropriate exemption. Or use the cash to pay for an attorney.

As far as the inheritance goes, read the forms carefully and if you find somewhere that the inheritance should be listed (the statement of financial affairs, maybe), list it. It's nice if you can prove how you spent it, but if you can't just be honest if you are asked. The question may never come up.

[elsbelles]

Thanks for the answers and welcome. I plan on using the Federal exemptions, and I guess I didn't realize that when they said you can apply the wildcard to any property that that meant cash on hand. None of it's in the bank so there's no record of it except for when I deposited some of it in my checking account to help pay bills. I certainly don't plan on hiding it, but I'm thinking that maybe I don't have to list it anywhere because it's not within the 6 months time frame.

[LadyInTheRed]

The 6 month time frame is applicable for inheritances you receive or become entitled to after you file BK. If you receive the inheritance before you file, how long before filing you received or became entitled to it is irrelevant. What is important is whether you can exempt whatever part of the inheritance you still have and any assets you purchased with the inheritance and whether you gave any of it away.