Filing Thursday but have a few questions

[bkmom]

My husband and I are set to file pro se Thursday but I have a couple questions I'd like to square away before then.

When I comb over our Schedule B, I see no place to list my current wages. Am I missing something?

Also, I'm currently being garnished 25% of my paycheck to a creditor. When we file and receive our case number, I know that the garnishment will stop and some of funds that have been garnished will be returned back to me. Do I need to exempt this money that I'll be receiving? I've read a few stories here about others having to turn that money over to a trustee because it wasn't exempted. We're really tight on funds and if I can keep that, it would be great.

Thank you in advance to all who answer. I am so glad you all are here. I'm only 99% freaked about filing!

[bkmom]

Also, Schedule H Codebtors

I have no idea where my exhusband is... Do I list him and write 'address unknown'?

[bkmom]

Oh one more question.

My husband owes a college (not a student loan) and the college obtained a lien on our (junker, non-working) minivan. Do I list the college a secure non-priority?

(I'm biting my nails down to nubs! Ahh.)

[bkmom]

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

We have to file tomorrow.

[justbroke]

When I comb over our Schedule B, I see no place to list my current wages. Am I missing something?

I don't understand what you mean. Wages are either already cash in a bank, or they are "future" interest. Since money "already" earned and is in your bank, you would list it as either cash on hand or cash in the bank. You can then, on Schedule C, exempt that money to the extent that your State allows such an exemption (or your State allows you to use Federal Exemptions). If this is not making sense, then you're going to need some more studying to make sure you get the exemptions correctly.

I can not tell you which exemption to use. You will need to figure out which exemption applies on any cash in banks or on hand.

(Except in a Chapter 13, the Trustee would never have any title to future unearned income.)

Also, I'm currently being garnished 25% of my paycheck to a creditor. When we file and receive our case number, I know that the garnishment will stop and some of funds that have been garnished will be returned back to me. Do I need to exempt this money that I'll be receiving?

This is not as automatic as you may think it is. You will need to "notice" the bank (garnishee) and the creditor (garnisher) of your case filing. There is NO WAY to tell what the garnishee will do. They may, based on your State's underlying non-bankruptcy laws, still send whatever is seized to the garnisher or they may send it to the Trustee. Either way, you will need to figure out the process for your particular State.

It is complex, but if the amount was a "preference" and you could claim some exemption on those funds, you could ask the court to demand turnover of the garnished funds to you. Now, the Trustee might also try to "claw" it back as a preference, but only to pay other creditors.

If it's less than $600, you should probably consider it gone. You should probably get a free consult or two and ask if you could recover the garnished wages as a preference and exempt the funds as well.

[justbroke]

My husband owes a college (not a student loan) and the college obtained a lien on our (junker, non-working) minivan. Do I list the college a secure non-priority?

If there is a judgment lien, then you would need to procedurally move to avoid the judgment lien claiming an impacted exemption. You should read up on this in the NoLo guidebook. (I hope you have a guidebook.)

You should read up on lien avoidance under 11 USC 522(f) for judicial liens and how that works in Illinois.

Otherwise, you would still list them as Secure on Schedule D, but the lien would stay and they could repossess the vehicle after the bankruptcy is discharged, discharged, and/or closed.

(Sorry, let me caveat this a little. If they perfected this judgment lien by recoding the judgment appropriately and by the book, then the lien would pass through the bankruptcy UNAFFECTED and ENFORCEABLE. Even if they did record the judgment, making it a lien, didn't prefect the lien, or messed up the recording of the judgment (lien perfection), then you would probably still need to follow the process for avoiding a lien in your District.)

[LadyInTheRed]

Do you nean earned but unpaid wages? My attorney put them under "other" assets on the last line of Schedule B. More important than what category you list it under on Schedule B is using the correct exemption if one is available.

[bkmom]

We filed today.

I took a few extra days to reread the NoLo guide and that helped immensely. The clerk even complimented me on the organization and preparedness of our forms.

Our fee waiver was granted and that in itself was a blessing considering we have $123 to last 2 weeks.

The amount is considered 'preference' as it is above $600 and has been deducted within 90 days before filing. I'm going to see how much of it could get eaten up in court costs before I decide to pursue it.

As for the van with the judgement lien, I am leaning towards letting them choose what they'd like to do with it. It doesn't run and is just sitting in our driveway collecting bird poo. They'd be doing us a favor if they took it.

Also, thanks to everyone that has been so helpful during this stressful period. I am so glad I found this board when I did. You all are life savers.