341 Meeting Today

[jmk424]

A huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders!!! Had our 341 meeting today and of course like everyone I was a nervous wreck going in because I could only imagine the worst case scenario. We did get there early and were able to listen to several cases before ours which helped a lot. The trustee was very nice and personable and had a sense of humor which also helped a lot. He asked simple yes/no questions and everything was fine until he took a look at our schedules I and J. He thought that our 401K contributions were too high and considered converting us to a chapter 13, but he gave us a few minutes to look over those schedules with our attorney and make whatever adjustments we could to convince him to let us remain a chapter 7. When we went back in and advised him of our adjustments he was fine with everything and said he would recommend us no asset. So now we wait....

I would just like to add that this forum has been so helpful and I am so thankful!! I have only posted one other time but I am on here everyday reading and learning from everyone's experience. It is so nice to know that we are not alone.

[jmk424]

341 yesterday..now worried after reading pacer

Left my 341 meeting feeling pretty good. Looked at Pacer tonight and it said the following:

Doc. #15 U.S. Trustee's statement of Presumed Abuse - Notice sent to all creditors.

Doc. #16 U.S. Trustee's statement of Non-filing of Motion to Dismiss or Convert (reoc#15)

Doc. #17 Trustee's report of no distribution: Trustee of this estate reports and certifies that the trustee has performed all duties required of a trustee under 11 U.S.C 704 and has concluded that there are not assets to administer for the benefit of creditors of this estate.

So now I'm a little concerned. I will call my attorney tomorrow, but in the mean time, if anyone can shed some light on my situation, that would be great.

[lrprn]

Doc #17 says you are no asset. It was the last document filed. What are the dates and upload times on the other documents?

[jmk424]

The date for all 3 docs was 4/10/08

[jmk424]

still looking for answers

I called my attorney yesterday only to find out he will be out of town until the end of April. So...still hoping for some insight.
Here is some more info on my situation. I went back to Pacer and actually looked at the documents, and found out that the presumption of abuse was from some stock that I had sold. I work for a company that went into Chapter 11 a few years ago and when the company emerged from bankruptcy, I received some unrestricted stock...this was in May 07. I sold my stock in November of 07. When I filed for bk in March of 08 I supplied the necessary supporting documentation showing that I used the money from my stocks to pay a creditor.

The 2nd document #16 from the U.S Trustee says that because we supplied the necessary documentation to show that this was non recurring income filing to dismiss or convert is not appropriate.

Also on Pacer, in the top right corner, it says:
FMCERT, 707(b),MEANSYES. I know what FMCERT is for, but not sure on the rest of it. So again if anyone can help that would be great.

[DivorceRuinedMe]

I believe that means that you are 1.) either over median income and that you failed the means test or 2.) he thinks you have enough disposable income to push you into a 13 (which would mean you failed the means test too.) On Pacer mine says MEANSNO (I was under median income though).

Hopefully someone else here can shed some more light. I think that even though he seemed okay initially with your shuffling around the figures on your I vs J, he may not have been later when he thought about things more. I have to admit that I was thinking to myself when I originally read your post - wow - that trustee essentially let them raise expenses in other areas in order to make I vs J negative or low. He let you "finagle" the numbers. That to me seemed a little odd as trustees scrutinize those figures pretty closely. To just let you switch things up when you got there b/c you had too much disposable income due to your 401K contributions seemed a little off to me.

But, after saying all that, it seems like from what you wrote that he filed the notice of presumed abuse and then chose not to pursue it. Is that what everyone else is getting from what the US Trustee posted to PACER?

[getouttadebt]

I sold my stock in November of 07. When I filed for bk in March of 08 I supplied the necessary supporting documentation showing that I used the money from my stocks to pay a creditor.

Just curious how you showed supporting documentation that you used the money from your sale of stock to pay a creditor. Did the US Trustee ask you for this proof? Was the sale of those restricted shares included in your Year To Date (YTD) W-2 for 2007? If so, then I assume it would skew your income for the 6 mos average income. Is there a form that can be filed to list one time, non-recurring asset sales so that it does not get added as income to the 6 mos average?

I am currently challenging the UST in my case because he is calculating stock options that I sold to pay monthly expenses in the 6 mos prepetition. The UST is adding this a income which overstates my Current Monthly Income.

Good luck,

getouttadebt

[jmk424]

getouttadebt,

There was no specific official form or document that I submitted. On the paperwork that my attorney had me fill out there was a section for me to list any bank accounts that I had closed or any stock that I had sold. Since the stock that I sold was a fairly decent amount my attorney said that I would need to justify what I used the money for. So what I submitted was the agreement in writing that I received from the creditor stating that I had agreed to pay whatever the amount was. The dates and the amounts from the agreement coincided with the date the stock was sold and the amount of the stock since I specifically sold it to pay that creditor. I hadn't planned to sell it but they were threatening me with a law suit. The stock was listed as income on my 2007 tax forms and did put me over the median. Without that stock I am under.

I hope this answers your question. Good luck to you too!

[getouttadebt]

Thanks, jmk424. It helps somewhat. I am opposing our UST's Motion to Dismiss. In the final months before we filed, I had sold some stock options and ESPP shares in order to keep current on all bills. Once those assets were disposed of there was not enough money to go around, and then we started looking at BK. As you are aware, the sale of stock options and ESPP are added to W-2 income which is killing me. My attorney thinks we have a good shot at opposing the motion because they were one-time only, non-recurring items and the proceeds were only used to stay afloat and keep household expenses current.

Anyway, those documents you listed at the beginning of the thread sound like a good thing for you. The one mentioning Presumed Abuse is countered with the Non-Filing doc and then you have the No Asset one to boot. Looks good from my perspective.

getouttadebt