trustee wants amended form

[semantic]

CA

We had our 341 meeting today; while some petitioners were there for a whole 2 minutes, ours lasted at least 30 minutes, and we have to go back next week, in the interim we must file an amended schedule c.

The trustee said we were over the exemptions by $4K, and that we should seek legal counsel. Since we have to go back to the court to see the trustee again on Tuesday, we don't have alot of time. Plus, the clerk said I had to file the amended schedule with the court, not the trustee.

The trustee didn't say which exemptions he felt were 'over the limit' so I don't know where to look.

The only thing I can think of is an 'expected tax return' we listed as an asset, which we have not received yet and have no indication when we may.

Was the trustee giving us a break here, saying 'reduce your assets' to fit in the limits, or what? Our son has just been diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder (no jokes or flames please I don't need them), and we need what we have.

Other than that, since the time we filed, our bank account balances have gone down by at least $4K, but the trustee didn't ask us if any circumstances have changed - he said we were just supposed to put the balances as they existed on the day of filing, which we did. Do I now 'amend' the bank assets to reflect current reality?

I just want to get this over with, and get on with taking care of my son, who will never live an independent life - the bk seems almost low on the totem pole of importance, but I have to do this right.

Please, any replies?

[Ladynred]

Do I now 'amend' the bank assets to reflect current reality?

No. You need to look over all of your personal property values and all of your other assets. Did you try to exempt the expected tax refund ?? What is the equity in your home ?

When did you file, before or after 10/17 ??

The amended schedule must be filed with the BK court, that is correct. It must be recored and filed with the rest of your petition.

[semantic]

Our 341 hearing was on Nov. 30, and the trustee said we over the exemption limit by 4K, and needed to file an amended schedule c. He said did you have help, I said no, we filed pro se. He said, get legal advice and file the form. He then scheduled another hearing for this coming tuesday, Dec. 6.

After calling 6 attorneys, I found someone who said she would fix the form, and we paid her $350 to do it.

So far, and this is Friday night now, she has not responded to emails, has not returned phone calls either.

What do I do now? I did not try to exemp tax returns, some assets may be overvalued, but this attorney told me we could not change amounts, only categories.

If I have to work on a schedule c myself over the weekend, well I guess I can, but I don't really know how to rearrange the amounts - can I downsize the values and just explain that to the trustee, that we overvalued in the first filing? This sounds stupid, but what else can I do?

I have one car, no lien on it. No job, one disabled kid, and a bank account balance that is a fraction of when we filed, which was before oct. 17.

Does the trustee care that my attorney might be a deadbeat?

Help!

[Ladynred]

CA has some pretty generous exemptions. Which System did you use (CA has 2 to choose from) ??

Of course you can change amounts, that's part of what amendments are for.

I hope this 2nd person you found is a legit attorney.. so I'd work on the Schedule C yourself just in case.

[semantic]

We chose the second category of exemptions in California, since we don't own a home,we chose the one with the big wild card exemptions.

Why would the attorney tell us we can't change amounts? I said, well look, our bank accounts are down at least the amount the trustee said we were over, can't we amend that and be done with it?

She said no. And while I did not check with the state bar, I went by the listings in the yellow pages;

I guess I'll do my own form anyway, just in case. My van is valued on the filing at $6500, the vehicle exemption under category 2 is $2500, I thought (erroneously) that the wild card exemption would pick up the rest. Is this not true?

Thanks Lady n Red.

[Ladynred]

The Wildcard can be used for "ANY PROPERTY", so yes, it DOES cover the exceess equity in your vehicle. I hope you JUST listed equity for it on your schedules - unless its paid off. To use the wildcard, you should list the statute that the exemption comes from on the Schedule C, so for your vehcile you'd list BOTH statute sections:

Wild card "703.140(b)(5) - $15,000 of any property, less any claim for homestead or burial plot."

Vehicle: "703.140(b)(2) - Motor vehicle up to $2,975."

The vehicle exemption is higher than the $2500 you listed.

You should be able to completely exempt the vehicle AND the 4K you had in your bank account unless you used some of that 15K homestead.

[CAB in CA]

Here is a link which shows the exemption amounts that my lawyer used for my filing for October 7, 2005.

It looks like the 703.140(b)(1) is $18,675. plus there is an additional wild card exemption of $1,000. 703.140(b)(5).

Here is the link, hopefully you will find it of some use.

[url]http://www.ca-bankruptcy-attorneys.com/california_exemption_chart.html[/url]

CAB in CA

[Ladynred]

That page hasn't been updated in over a year. What I gave you was updated within the last 6 months. You can also directly check the CA code, which I suggest you do.

[semantic]

Yes LadynRed, I listed both statutes for my van, both the vehicle exemption and then the wildcard to cover the rest. The van is paid off, so I just listed kelly blue book values, private party sale value. The trustee questioned us on this, as we originally paid 9K in Feb of this year, and I listed the van as $6500, he said 'what's this?" I said, (sigh) we bought it on ebay (we really did) and it wasn't what it was cracked up to be. He just nodded through my explanation. I'm sure I looked like a big dumb***, but an honest one anyway.

The attorney we hired to 'fix' the forms told us the van was the problem; we went over the exempted amount. I know what I put on the forms, we used the rest of the wildcard exemption, so I don't know what she's talking about. The bank accounts are now down to 1/4 of when we filed, that's why I thought if we 'amended' that portion, we could be okay. The 'service' I used to make my petition was bridgeport bankruptcy, and their program was supposed to 'flag' any exemptions over the allowed amount by state. Well, they didn't flag me, so I thought everything was on the up and up.

We have tax returns we are expecting a refund on (late late filers, don't flame me, keep it to yourself), but I didn't exempt those amounts. I told the trustee we hadn't received the refunds yet, as I listed those on the asset schedule as 'old tax refunds'.

So, I wonder where the error is, according to our attorney, its the van, but the statutes are correct, I'm sure of it. If we are just over the exemption generally, well, that's why I brought up the bank account issue. Amended means to me to state the current status of things. But, I'm not a lawyer.

Thanks for all your replies.