341 meeting and possible outcomes

[tmr76]

What is the name of your state? IL

My 341 meeting is next Friday for our Ch 7. We were asked to bring a bank statement, id's and ssn cards. We were sort of on the line between a 13 & 7 so I suspect that the reason for the bank statement request is to determine how much money we actually have. Since everything goes into our checking account and we only withdraw cash once in awhile and not much, everything is pretty accurate there except one thing.... Since we filed, my parents have been paying for preschool/daycare for my son and tutoring for my daughter as well as lunches for them and a few other small items. Partially because they wanted to help out and because I need to save money for new tires on both vehicles and some maintenance on the truck - I was going to take a loan from my 401k for this but attorney advised against it since it would be considered income. We also pay our rent in two month increments so there was no record of that there or a couple other larger bills. Given that, the balance is higher than what it really is on average.... I don't want to offer explanations because I've heard it's best to be quiet and just answer yes or no but it's not an accurate picture of our finances on a regular basis.

Also, my husband experiences layoffs almost every winter. That means, a full check now certainly won't be the case this November through possibly April. Does the trustee look at that and not consider his income steady then? Because on what I make, a 7 would be absolute with no exceptions or questions.

I am just a little nervous about this meeting.... I left a msg for attorney just now but thought I'd post for others experiences in the mean time.

[bigun]

Asking for a few bank statements is pretty standard. No biggie.
You are allowed to receive gifts. Many people have family helping out when they're in financial distress. Again no problem.
Just answer yes or no. If the trustee wants more information, they are not bashful about asking!