When my clients ask, “Why is the trustee looking so closely at my bankruptcy case?” I tell them about trustee appointments.  Chapter 7 trustees are private attorneys appointed to a panel by the Department of Justice.  Trustees are paid only $65.00 per case according to statute and that is the full payment for approximately 95 percent of their cases.  By looking closely at bankruptcy schedules, in about 5 percent of their cases, trustees are able to identify assets.

• The trustee tries to locate assets which can be liquidated to pay your creditors.
• When trustees succeed in finding assets to pay creditors, they get paid more than the $65.00.
• Trustees can then hire their own law firm and be paid $300.00 to $500.00 an hour.  Besides the hourly billing rate, the trustee also receives a percentage of the amount distributed to creditors.

Trustees cannot afford to take much time to determine whether they’re likely to identify assets for your creditors.  If the trustee decides there are not likely to be worthwhile assets, they’re going to close the case, file a “No Distribution” report and conclude that the bankruptcy is a no-asset case.  That’s a great outcome for a Chapter 7 debtor.

The bankruptcy trustee is going to keep the case open and analyze whether or not there actually are assets.  If the trustee determines there are assets to pay creditors, the trustee will have a payday worth far more than the $65.00 that they’ll normally get from a case.  For more information, read Why Do Maryland Trustees Scrutinize Bankruptcy Cases So Closely?

If you have a question about whether or not the trustee is going to take a close look at your case, please pick up the phone and call me at 410-484-9000.  I’d love to hear from you.

The post Why Is Trustee Scrutinizing Your Maryland Bankruptcy Case? appeared first on Baltimore Bankruptcy Lawyer.

In the vast majority of bankruptcy cases, these meetings are short, routine affairs. The trustee has cursorily reviewed the debtor’s schedules of assets and liabilities and other bankruptcy papers and simply asks the debtor to confirm that there are no assets for creditors. Creditors almost never attend.

Casey Anthony’s case will be different. Bankruptcy meetings are open to the public, so the press is expected to jam the meeting room (the proceedings have been specially transferred to a location capable of supporting the crowds). Aggrieved creditors include Zenaida Gonzalez who has the same name as the fictitious nanny Casey had invented to accuse of absconding with Caylee as one of her cover-up lies. Ms. Gonzales, who has sued Ms. Anthony for defamation, failed in her attempt to remove the case from Tampa to Orlando but is expected to attend through counsel and examine Ms. Anthony. Debtors who make enemies before filing bankruptcy frequently have a much harder time navigating the bankruptcy process.

Also expected to attend will be new lawyers for both the debtor and the trustee. In most Chapter 7 cases, the debtor files the case through a lawyer, who attends the meeting; the trustee waits to see if there are assets before hiring counsel (most lawyers won’t want to work without the belief that some cash will be available to pay them). In this case, Casey Anthony has hired an additional attorney for reasons that have yet to become apparent and the trustee has engaged counsel of his own. The trustee’s move is typically a signal that the trustee expects to discover assets in the case, contrary to the schedules Casey Anthony has already filed in the case, under oath.

At her bankruptcy meeting, Casey Anthony will swear to tell the truth and must answer questions from the trustee and any other creditor who attends. She should probably also expect to testify in a subsequent lengthy bankruptcy deposition, known as a “Rule 2004 Examination” regarding her assets, debts and right to receive a discharge. Creditors will have 60 days from this meeting to file lawsuits objecting to her discharge or to the dischargeability of her debts. It appears likely that both of these complaints will be filed.

Casey Anthony has already been convicted of lying to law enforcement authorities. If she is caught in another lie after her bankruptcy testimony she will lose her discharge. If that happens, she may question why she even bothered to file for bankruptcy in the first place.

What do you think, will Casey Anthony be able to resist lying at her meeting with the trustee? Please leave your answer in the comments section.

To view Casey Anthony’s bankruptcy schedules, click here.

The post Casey Anthony To Testify Under Oath At Bankruptcy Meeting appeared first on Baltimore Bankruptcy Lawyer.

If the pending commissions are less than the statutorily allowed exemptions in the particular state then this rule is not a problem: The realtor will disclose the commissions payable, file an exemption for that amount and get to keep the money. Problems arise when commissions earned but not yet received are combined with the realtor’s other property and the sum exceeds the statutory allowance.  In that case the realtor may have been better off waiting to file the bankruptcy case until after settlement, when the money can be strategically spent.

Realtors can’t game the bankruptcy system by timing their settlements.  If the commissions are sizable enough a Chapter 13 reorganization may be preferable to a straight Chapter 7 liquidation. Either way, avoid the nasty surprise when the trustee demands a commission you’re counting on: do careful planning before pulling the trigger and filing a bankruptcy case.

The post Realtor Commissions: Time The Bankruptcy, Not The Settlement, To Keep The Money appeared first on Baltimore Bankruptcy Lawyer.

The key to taking the anxiety out of this meeting is preparation. Knowing where you’re going and confirming the date, time and place with your attorney may seem like common sense, but many debtors would be surprised that they need to go through metal detectors and airport-style security if the meeting is held in a federal courthouse. And few debtors would know intuitively that they need to bring both a photo ID and their social security card.

Of course, reviewing the bankruptcy papers a day or two beforehand will help the debtors identify any changes they need to make to the official record, which may become important if there are significant errors or omissions in the papers they signed and that were filed with the Court. Testifying under penalty of perjury can be a stressful ordeal, but following the 7 steps in this article can help the meeting go much smoother.

The post Ready For Your Closeup? Steps To Prepare For Meeting The Trustee appeared first on Baltimore Bankruptcy Lawyer.