My question concerns the disposition of cash assets thru a BK7. I am self employed, and receive my income solely from commissioned sales. Sales have been extremely slow of late, and I've not received any income for several months.
I sold some investment property last year, and have been living off of the equity proceeds of the sale(s) of those homes. I currently have about $16,000 left over from the second sale, which will cover living expenses for about 4 months. I've contacted a couple of BK attorney's, and received answers ranging from, "Come in and we'll get you filed and you will be able to keep the $16,000" to "If you have $16,000 in the bank, you don't need to be filing bankruptcy."
I believe (please correct me if I'm wrong), that for heads of family, up to $500 per week for up to 6 months, but is this only for "wage earners"? Or are those with irregular incomes eligible for this particular exclusion?
What can the trustee do if I were to say make my annual contribution to my IRA? Would that money now be "untouchable" as it would then be in my retirement account? How would making an additional principal payment on my homesteaded property's mortgage be handled? Is there something else I'm not thinking of?
Does the attorney who told me I could keep the $16,000 thru the chapter 7 BK just want to get me to a face-to-fact meeting in his office, and then sell me on retaining him? Or are there "ways" to legally shelter this money?
I believe that filing for Chapter 7 is much closer than 4 months away, as I plan to use the BK filing to halt court proceedings related to debt collection (complaint received almost 1 year ago), now headed to trial next month.
I sold some investment property last year, and have been living off of the equity proceeds of the sale(s) of those homes. I currently have about $16,000 left over from the second sale, which will cover living expenses for about 4 months. I've contacted a couple of BK attorney's, and received answers ranging from, "Come in and we'll get you filed and you will be able to keep the $16,000" to "If you have $16,000 in the bank, you don't need to be filing bankruptcy."
I believe (please correct me if I'm wrong), that for heads of family, up to $500 per week for up to 6 months, but is this only for "wage earners"? Or are those with irregular incomes eligible for this particular exclusion?
What can the trustee do if I were to say make my annual contribution to my IRA? Would that money now be "untouchable" as it would then be in my retirement account? How would making an additional principal payment on my homesteaded property's mortgage be handled? Is there something else I'm not thinking of?
Does the attorney who told me I could keep the $16,000 thru the chapter 7 BK just want to get me to a face-to-fact meeting in his office, and then sell me on retaining him? Or are there "ways" to legally shelter this money?
I believe that filing for Chapter 7 is much closer than 4 months away, as I plan to use the BK filing to halt court proceedings related to debt collection (complaint received almost 1 year ago), now headed to trial next month.