Checked PACER and there was my DISCHARGE

[rockobuster]

What is the name of your state? OR

I never thought this day would ever come! We filed chapter 7 on 4/4, had our 341 meeting on 5/13, last day for objection was 712, and our discharge is 7/22. That was a long 10 days between the objection date and actual date of discharge.

I would like to thank everyone on this forum for all of their experiences, advice and support.

I will continue to view this sight and answer any questions I can, and help anyone with information from my own experience. I don't think there has been anything that has been this stressful over a 4 month period of time.

[JANICE2005]

nj, Im just beginning my bankruptcy , I see a lawyer monday, this is all so very hard & stressful, any advice or just anything you can share I will appreciate. It seems to be a long time process, the part I think Im most stressed over, well all of it, but the hearing, thats scary to me. I have been helped so much these past few weeks--- since I found this wonderful site, by the people on here, Im so glad this is available. Please let me know anything you can about this scary process, thank-you, janice

[Ladynred]

Everyone stresses about the 341 meeting.. most without reason. The 341 meeting for MOST people lasts less than 5 minutes and creditors rarely show up. If you have a car that's financed, they *might* show up, but then again, they may not. As long as your case is a pretty straightforward Ch 7, it'll take you longer to park than the time your butt will be parked in that chair in front of the Trustee .

[maurand]

It was my experience that if you went through this with an attorney, the 341 meeting was even quicker and less painless as I believe the Trustee assumes your attorney has already gathered and reviewed all your paperwork, transfers and transactions. Many pro se'ers ahead of me were asked to produce buttloads of paperwork(bank account statements, titles, retirement statements, etc...) while I was only asked for my drivers lic. and SS card. Hope this helps....

[Flowers]

Great for you rockobuster....I got mine also on Friday...

Janice, take care...It took me 50 minutes by subway to get to the hearing...I spent about 5 minutes at my hearing.

Flowers

[You Are Guilty]

Gee, that's funny, the last one I attended took about an hour. (Probably had something to do with the fraud the debtor was trying to hide). However, out of the 25-30 cases before ours, I'd say maybe 3 minutes was average (if you spoke English), 5 if you used an interpreter and 10 if you were an idiot with an interpreter.

[LostinMI]

Rockobuster - I was reading some of your earlier chapter 7/13 questions.... and now I have a question for you... since you have been discharged. Were you worried that the Trustee may dismiss your chapter 7 and send you to chapter 13? That is what I am worried about also -- it may look like we have too much disposable income for chapter 7, but we plan to divorce and that would change all that. How did that play out for you?

[rockobuster]

We were very concerned after our 341 meeting. It was a long 60 days between the meeting and our discharge. Based on what the Trustee said at our meeting, we felt he was definately going to recommend dismissing us because of our disposable income, and having us convert to a chapter 13.

Have your already had your 341 meeting? What is your disposable income at? Ours started out at $200 and because the Trustee was going to deny several expenses, our disposable income went to $900 (our attorney really felt that the Trustee was starting to use the new law when he started denying several expenses.)

[LostinMI]

I have only spoke with an attorney by phone. She is sending me the preliminary paperwork to fill out prior to meeting with her to discuss our situation. She did tell me that for Michigan our income was above the state average. We do plan to seperate after our financial situation is cleared up (and we can afford to live seperately). But I am unsure if we should file seperatedly or together and risk the change of the Trustee thinking we have too much disposable income.

[Ladynred]

The state average income is NOT applicable under the current law. Being above your state's median income be a problem until AFTER 10/17/05 when the new law goes into effect.

Personally, given the upcoming divorced, I think you should each file separately. I suggest you call a couple other lawyers, you need to talk to more than one.

[LostinMI]

Thanks for the information LadynRed. The only thing I worry about when filing seperately (besides paying the fee twice) is whether we should use the same address. We do reside at the same address currently, but will not after this is all over. I don't want to lie & have our case thrown out because of using a false address. I am planning to call a couple other attorneys today.

[tmr76]

Rockobuster, you said that you're disposable income was at $900 due to refusal by the trustee on some of your expenses... Were you able to bring it back down closer to the original $200 and if not, did they still allow you at the $900 to do a Ch 7?

Thats my primary concern right now, whether the trustee is going to push us into a 13.

[rockobuster]

At the end of our 341 meeting the Trustee said he was going to "recommend" the denial of several of our expenses, which would have pushed us into a chapter 13. For whatever reasons (US Trustee did not agree, Trustee changed his mind, the courts are so backed up) it did not happen. We never heard anything from the Trustee again. Our attorney did say that the Trustee was trying to deny certain expenses based on what the new laws are going to be in October. I don't know what your total amount of unsecured debt is, but ours was $120,000 (and our secured debt expenses were high too), which are attorney said made a difference why we were allowed to try a chapter 7. What is your disposable income right now?

[tmr76]

Well, based on our average earnings this year to date, it's something like just under $200 if everything is allowed. We even went on the low side for certain things like transportation expenses and gas because what we really spend our attorney said they wouldn't allow (we both work over 25 miles from our home and with gas at $2.40 a gallon, it doesn't take long to use $400 or more in a month!).

Anyway, my problem is that they requested a bank statement for our 341 this Friday, I assume to see our balance on a daily basis but right now, my husband is working mostly 40 hour weeks so we do have more than usual (and my parents have been paying for daycare and tutoring for my kids since we filed to help ease my stress). In fact, the day I filed we had $60 bucks in there. However, he gets laid off during the winter and intermittently throughout the year so IMO, his income is not stable. We certainly would be in the red for a 13 based on my income alone. My fear is that the trustee is going to convert us to a 13 based on my Checking account statement although it's not a true picture of our year round financial health.

Another problem is they announced a reorg at my company and three of the 6 jobs are being eliminated and I have the least amount of senority. We are going to know within 4 weeks who is being let go but that will put yet another kink in the 13 plan if I lose my job. If it's a yes or no meeting, all these other considerations are going to be left out which are important IMO.

[Ladynred]

Did they ask for a RECENT bank statement ? If not, I'd take the bank statment that shows what your balance was on the day you filed. Bankruptcy is a snapshot of your finances as of your filing date.

If you DO have to take a recent statement, take along at least 6 months of PRIOR statements to show that what you have now is NOT consistent year-round.