Chapt 7 Dumb Question

[had6010]

What is the name of your state? OH

Okay, this is probably a dumb question but I am going to ask it anyway. At the adivce of my attorney, I am waiting to file bankruptcy until after I get my tax return and after I receive a $1200 (after tax) bonus from my job. This will probably be the beginning of middle of March that I file. My question is does it matter what I spend the tax return and bonus money on? I am expecting my return to be about $400 and the bonus to be about $1200. I plan on paying my lawyer's fee from this ($700) but it will leave about $900. My boyfriend and I were thinking of taking a short vacation somewhere since I haven't been able t go on vacation in years due to my financial problems. But I am guessing that the Trustee will ask where the money went....

I am going to ask my attorney this also but he is out of town for the week and I am anxious to know the answer so I can properly budget my income for the next few months.

Thanks!

[ihatearizona]

Unless you plan on spending the money to pay creditors/bills, don't touch it. The Trustee could very well ask for the money. Not that they will, but in our case they did (filed in June 04). We had to explain that the monies were used to bring our housepayment current.

[had6010]

I'm confused...my lawyer said that as long as I got it before I filed I didn't have to worry about the trustee taking it and he told me to keep my bank accounts low (don't try to save money). I will have to talk to him when I get back I guess. I figured a vacation was out of the picture since that is a luxury but I wonder if I can use it to build a fence for our house or something else that is a necessity. I will have to ask.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by had6010

I'm confused...my lawyer said that as long as I got it before I filed I didn't have to worry about the trustee taking it and he told me to keep my bank accounts low (don't try to save money). I will have to talk to him when I get back I guess. I figured a vacation was out of the picture since that is a luxury but I wonder if I can use it to build a fence for our house or something else that is a necessity. I will have to ask.

**A: if you are starving you can use the money to buy food, or a heater, or something that you need to survive. Otherwise, pay your creditors.

[had6010]

But I thought if I pay a creditor that it shows preferential treatment...my lawyer advised me to stop paying my credit cards each month and told me not to pay back any individuals I may owe. If I use the money to pay a creditor then it shows preferential treatment to one or more of my creditors? Are you saying my lawyer is giving me bad advice?

By creditor do you mean a creditor whose debt will not be discharged in the bk chpt.7 case...such as car insurance, car lease, student loans, etc.? Can I use the money to prepay one of these...like pay my car lease payments ahead a few months or something?

[louielouii]

I am getting ready to file my attorney told me to wait until I get my tax's filed then to spend the money on something ,like a new furnace and to have proof of what I spent it on.