John Patrick
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Iowa
My previous posting was very vague and woefully incomplete as far as the details, even though they may not matter. I'm not certain what compromises a hardship case, but I definitely feel I would qualify.
Here is the WHOLE story... regarding my income tax refund, how it came to be so large and where the bulk of the money went and why there is absolutely no way possible for me to come up with this money, make payments on this money, or endure any further financial burdens.
I filed for Chapter 7 on November 18, 2005 and the first meeting of the creditors was held on December 22, 2005. No creditors of mine were present at this meeting. I had one secured debt, which was for an automobile that was repossessed prior to my filing, but I did include that debt as a secured debt in my paperwork. The rest of my debts were all unsecured debt, which included about $4000 in credit card debt, $1500-$2000 in medical bills, and maybe a few other small debts. I provided the trustee with bank statements and my newest tax returns at this meeting of the creditors. My tax refund from the tax year 2004 was a little over $2000, because I pay $400/month in child support for my son, who is 14 years old, plus I also pay $180/month to provide him with full medical and dental insurance. So, based on my income and his mom’s income, plus the fact that she has two other minor children (by two other men) meant that I qualified to claim my son as a dependent on my taxes, which is why I got the $2000+.
Beginning in 2004 I was romantically involved with a lady, who rented a 2-bedroom home for her and her two minor sons. I moved in with this lady and her children in the fall off 2004 and remained in that residence through most of 2005. This lady does not work and is on disability, due to health issues. I worked and provided as much as I could to the support of the household.
In the beginning of 2006 this lady found a very good opportunity to purchase a much more adequate home that would provide seperate bedrooms for her two son's, whose age difference practically requires it. Since she also has a 23 year old daughter who is a single mother of a 16 month old son, she wanted to potentially provide her and her son safe shelter, should she run into financial difficulties. Since the owners themselves were providing the financing, she was able to negotiate a monthly payment that was not much more then what she had been paying in rent at her old residence. This new home was affordable and offered 4-bedrooms, which was the number truly needed to accomodate all of the definitive and potential residents.
There was only one obstacle towards acquiring this home for her and her children, which was the requested and needed down payment of $5,000. She and I had several discussions about how we might raise this money. The idea arose from the fact that she did not work or have any wages or salary, so she would not benefit very much from claiming her two minor sons on her tax return. So, it was decided that she would allow me to claim her sons, who had lived with me for more than half of the tax year 2005 and to whom I had provided proven support. I cannot claim the Earned Income Credit on my son, because he does not live with me, but I was able to do so using these two minor children who did live with me.
Since I had three dependents and EIC, my income tax refund was quite large at around $6300. Since I would not have received that large of a refund claiming only my son as a dependent, it was agreed that I would give her the difference and/or what she needed to make the down payment on this new home. This time frame was towards the middle of February, which would have or should have been the time when my bankruptcy would have been discharged (90 days). I had not heard anything from the court or the trustee, so I made an error in judgement and filed my return and then distributed the bulk of it to my girlfriend.
The BK trustee sent me a letter dated in the first week of March, where he inquired into whether or not I had claimed the EIC on my taxes for my son, which would not be lawful, since he did not live with me during that tax year. He mentioned having a “source” who had advised him of this fact. I had claimed the EIC, but Joel was not listed on the form nor claimed on EIC. I’m certain it was my son’s mom who was the “source,” since she and I have a very strained relationship, with her often trying to find ways to strike out at me in some detrimental way. The trustee asked that I provide him with copies of my tax returns for 2005 (filed in 2006), which I did. The next step he made was to send out a notice to all of my creditors regarding “found assets” to which they could make a claim. I just recently received a letter from the trustee requesting that I turn over the non-exempt portion of my tax refund, which is $3205.
I no longer have this money, having given my girlfriend $4000 towards the down payment on her house, per our personal agreement regarding the tax refund, in addition to some other funds to help provide for the moving expenses. What little money was left was simply used to get myself caught up on bills and normal living expenses or basic necessities.
I have a copy of the cashier’s check made out to the company that owns the property this lady is purchasing (it has both my name and her name on the check), which in addition to my bank records showing the withdrawls corresponding to that check, which would provide evidence regarding how and where the funds were spent or distributed, which was not frivolously or irresponsibly.
I cannot pay this $3200 and any further burden upon my finances will potentially ruin me. I have no working vehicle, most all of my belongings, furniture, personal effect, etc… pretty much everything but my clothes and a bed, are all currently in a moving/storage companies facility with a bill of over $1800 that continues to grow each month, due to storage charges. I put the belongings in storage when I moved in with this lady, since her home could not accommodate very much of my belongings. I am now living alone in an apartment, with hardly any furnishings, kitchen utensils, or much of anything. I pay out nearly $900/month in financial aid and support for my two children. My daughter, who is 21 years old, is currently going to college, so I pay her auto insurance on my policy (total = $160/month) and I have begun paying back a student loan that she acquired in my name (parent loan), which is nearly $7500 and costing me $200/month.
It will probably take me several years before I can afford even the cheapest of used cars and it will probably take several more years before I can finally recover my belongings from the moving/storage company, which includes many irreplaceable personal items, such as photos, scrap books, and other mementos. If the trustee and the court saddle me with another financial burden and require me to pay back this $3200 in payments, I may never afford a vehicle of any kind and I will have great difficulty in paying even the most basic of living expenses. Just as an example and representation of my situation, I have not purchased one single article of clothing of any kind in well over two years, which includes socks or undergarments.
If my only option to avoid paying this money to the trustee to distribute to my creditor is to dismiss my bankruptcy, then that would be a much more viable solution, since prior to my filing, there had not been much of any action taken by any of these creditors towards me or towards any of my income.
Can someone confirm to me whether or not it is true that I could potentially refile Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in six months after this case is dismissed? If so, then this may be my best or only option. I could easily fend of the creditors for another six months, since many of them have been a part of my life for many years.
My previous posting was very vague and woefully incomplete as far as the details, even though they may not matter. I'm not certain what compromises a hardship case, but I definitely feel I would qualify.
Here is the WHOLE story... regarding my income tax refund, how it came to be so large and where the bulk of the money went and why there is absolutely no way possible for me to come up with this money, make payments on this money, or endure any further financial burdens.
I filed for Chapter 7 on November 18, 2005 and the first meeting of the creditors was held on December 22, 2005. No creditors of mine were present at this meeting. I had one secured debt, which was for an automobile that was repossessed prior to my filing, but I did include that debt as a secured debt in my paperwork. The rest of my debts were all unsecured debt, which included about $4000 in credit card debt, $1500-$2000 in medical bills, and maybe a few other small debts. I provided the trustee with bank statements and my newest tax returns at this meeting of the creditors. My tax refund from the tax year 2004 was a little over $2000, because I pay $400/month in child support for my son, who is 14 years old, plus I also pay $180/month to provide him with full medical and dental insurance. So, based on my income and his mom’s income, plus the fact that she has two other minor children (by two other men) meant that I qualified to claim my son as a dependent on my taxes, which is why I got the $2000+.
Beginning in 2004 I was romantically involved with a lady, who rented a 2-bedroom home for her and her two minor sons. I moved in with this lady and her children in the fall off 2004 and remained in that residence through most of 2005. This lady does not work and is on disability, due to health issues. I worked and provided as much as I could to the support of the household.
In the beginning of 2006 this lady found a very good opportunity to purchase a much more adequate home that would provide seperate bedrooms for her two son's, whose age difference practically requires it. Since she also has a 23 year old daughter who is a single mother of a 16 month old son, she wanted to potentially provide her and her son safe shelter, should she run into financial difficulties. Since the owners themselves were providing the financing, she was able to negotiate a monthly payment that was not much more then what she had been paying in rent at her old residence. This new home was affordable and offered 4-bedrooms, which was the number truly needed to accomodate all of the definitive and potential residents.
There was only one obstacle towards acquiring this home for her and her children, which was the requested and needed down payment of $5,000. She and I had several discussions about how we might raise this money. The idea arose from the fact that she did not work or have any wages or salary, so she would not benefit very much from claiming her two minor sons on her tax return. So, it was decided that she would allow me to claim her sons, who had lived with me for more than half of the tax year 2005 and to whom I had provided proven support. I cannot claim the Earned Income Credit on my son, because he does not live with me, but I was able to do so using these two minor children who did live with me.
Since I had three dependents and EIC, my income tax refund was quite large at around $6300. Since I would not have received that large of a refund claiming only my son as a dependent, it was agreed that I would give her the difference and/or what she needed to make the down payment on this new home. This time frame was towards the middle of February, which would have or should have been the time when my bankruptcy would have been discharged (90 days). I had not heard anything from the court or the trustee, so I made an error in judgement and filed my return and then distributed the bulk of it to my girlfriend.
The BK trustee sent me a letter dated in the first week of March, where he inquired into whether or not I had claimed the EIC on my taxes for my son, which would not be lawful, since he did not live with me during that tax year. He mentioned having a “source” who had advised him of this fact. I had claimed the EIC, but Joel was not listed on the form nor claimed on EIC. I’m certain it was my son’s mom who was the “source,” since she and I have a very strained relationship, with her often trying to find ways to strike out at me in some detrimental way. The trustee asked that I provide him with copies of my tax returns for 2005 (filed in 2006), which I did. The next step he made was to send out a notice to all of my creditors regarding “found assets” to which they could make a claim. I just recently received a letter from the trustee requesting that I turn over the non-exempt portion of my tax refund, which is $3205.
I no longer have this money, having given my girlfriend $4000 towards the down payment on her house, per our personal agreement regarding the tax refund, in addition to some other funds to help provide for the moving expenses. What little money was left was simply used to get myself caught up on bills and normal living expenses or basic necessities.
I have a copy of the cashier’s check made out to the company that owns the property this lady is purchasing (it has both my name and her name on the check), which in addition to my bank records showing the withdrawls corresponding to that check, which would provide evidence regarding how and where the funds were spent or distributed, which was not frivolously or irresponsibly.
I cannot pay this $3200 and any further burden upon my finances will potentially ruin me. I have no working vehicle, most all of my belongings, furniture, personal effect, etc… pretty much everything but my clothes and a bed, are all currently in a moving/storage companies facility with a bill of over $1800 that continues to grow each month, due to storage charges. I put the belongings in storage when I moved in with this lady, since her home could not accommodate very much of my belongings. I am now living alone in an apartment, with hardly any furnishings, kitchen utensils, or much of anything. I pay out nearly $900/month in financial aid and support for my two children. My daughter, who is 21 years old, is currently going to college, so I pay her auto insurance on my policy (total = $160/month) and I have begun paying back a student loan that she acquired in my name (parent loan), which is nearly $7500 and costing me $200/month.
It will probably take me several years before I can afford even the cheapest of used cars and it will probably take several more years before I can finally recover my belongings from the moving/storage company, which includes many irreplaceable personal items, such as photos, scrap books, and other mementos. If the trustee and the court saddle me with another financial burden and require me to pay back this $3200 in payments, I may never afford a vehicle of any kind and I will have great difficulty in paying even the most basic of living expenses. Just as an example and representation of my situation, I have not purchased one single article of clothing of any kind in well over two years, which includes socks or undergarments.
If my only option to avoid paying this money to the trustee to distribute to my creditor is to dismiss my bankruptcy, then that would be a much more viable solution, since prior to my filing, there had not been much of any action taken by any of these creditors towards me or towards any of my income.
Can someone confirm to me whether or not it is true that I could potentially refile Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in six months after this case is dismissed? If so, then this may be my best or only option. I could easily fend of the creditors for another six months, since many of them have been a part of my life for many years.