Received Subpoena from US Trustee!

[kar]

We filed Chapter 7. Here is our problem. My wife and I were in our attorney's office this past Friday, September 8th signing a reaffirmation agreement for our auto loan. Our 341 meeting is on Monday, September 18th. Then he mentions by the way that he received this subpoena from the US Trustee asking for two items. One being all documentation and explanation related to "Continued contributions to care of household or family members" which was included on our mean test statement. We still contribute a large amount of support for our son who is twenty two years old but suffers from a number of mental health issues and is under care of a psychiatrist. We pay his rent and other living expenses do to the fact he has difficulty not being able to work or hold a job. Our attorney said that we should include him in the means test which we did. He ran the means test two ways. Including those expense items for our son and not including them. We pass the means test either way. The other item that the US Trustee wants are the last three months of bank statements. I don't think the two request are related. They want all of this information by Friday, September 15th. (Our 341 meeting is Monday, September 18th) On top of this, our attorney says he will be out of town all of next week when this material is due to be given to the US Trustee. He said that he would contact the US Trustee and let him know that he won't be around. My questions are:

1. If the US Trustee disallows our son expenses even though we still pass the means test, can he still try to force a Chapter 13 on us?

2. How can our attorney just take off the week before our 341 Meeting and make light of the subpoena. I would like to get this information to the US Trustee before the 341 meeting.

3. We noticed we were off by a few dollars a month on our son expenses on the means test (not to our favor). Can we amend those amounts on the means test prior to the 341 meeting and if so will that even make matters worst?

Any help with this would be appreciated

[FilingOnMyOwn]

Not really sure, but if your son is psychologically disabled and cannot work, you would have to be caring for him in your home. If moving him back in to care for him is not an option, than neither would be supporting him outside of the home... at least according to the courts.

[lrprn]

1. If the US Trustee disallows our son expenses even though we still pass the means test, can he still try to force a Chapter 13 on us?

Just want to be sure I understand - is your combined income above or below the average income in your state? And when your lawyer did your bk forms, did you have to go on beyond the first part of the Means Test to complete the longer, much more detailed parts after that? If you did, how did the totals on your Schedules I and J turn out?

2. How can our attorney just take off the week before our 341 Meeting and make light of the subpoena. I would like to get this information to the US Trustee before the 341 meeting.

Personally I have found this the hardest part of working with an experienced bk lawyer. To my husband and myself, our case is the whole focus of our world, where to our lawyer, it's just one more case of many he has. Of course, I can't say whether your lawyer is a good one or not, but I have found that when I've panicked about something involving our case and our lawyer said it was no big deal, it eventually did turn out to really be no big deal. The bk lawyer-to-bk trustee relationship seems to be a very "clubby" one in most districts (we witnessed this because we decided to attend our confirmation hearing - before the hearing officially started and throughout as each case was called, it was more like friends having casual conversations with each other than a formal legal proceeding). Be sure to ask your lawyer about this because he needs to know you have concerns about it, but if he has a dedicated bk practice and still says things are ok, I would trust that until proven otherwise.

3. We noticed we were off by a few dollars a month on our son expenses on the means test (not to our favor). Can we amend those amounts on the means test prior to the 341 meeting and if so will that even make matters worst?

I would leave well enough alone - a few dollars a month isn't worth asking for (and paying for) an amendment to your forms.

Please keep us posted on what happens with the US trustee supoena - hang in there!

[cr2285]

1. If the US Trustee disallows our son expenses even though we still pass the means test, can he still try to force a Chapter 13 on us?

Not unless he can put some other type expense on the chopping block as well. As long as the rest of your expenses are air tight, I wouldn't worry about it. I followed a case where the debtors claimed $1500/mo expenses for the care of the husband's mother (who lived with them). The US Trustee filed notice of abuse (sounds scary I know), then a couple of weeks later withdrew it after getting additional paperwork from the debtors. PM me if you'd like and I'll give you the case nbr/files.

2. How can our attorney just take off the week before our 341 Meeting and make light of the subpoena. I would like to get this information to the US Trustee before the 341 meeting.

Because he booked his trip to Vegas a couple of months ago and was too cheap to purchase cancellation insurance. ;) Don't sweat it. Just remember, everyone in the bankruptcy industry goes on vacation....judges, clerks, trustees, even lawyers. The information that was requested by the US trustee doesn't sound out of the ordinary. You should have provided the bank statments to your attorney before you filed. My lawyer wanted me to provide online banking registers for Jan-May in addition to 90 days worth of statements.

3. We noticed we were off by a few dollars a month on our son expenses on the means test (not to our favor). Can we amend those amounts on the means test prior to the 341 meeting and if so will that even make matters worst?

Only if he for some reason throws out your son's expenses and manages to knock off something else. Keep it in your back pocket in the slim case that you'll need it.

[kar]

1. If the US Trustee disallows our son expenses even though we still pass the means test, can he still try to force a Chapter 13 on us?

Just want to be sure I understand - is your combined income above or below the average income in your state? And when your lawyer did your bk forms, did you have to go on beyond the first part of the Means Test to complete the longer, much more detailed parts after that? If you did, how did the totals on your Schedules I and J turn out?

2. How can our attorney just take off the week before our 341 Meeting and make light of the subpoena. I would like to get this information to the US Trustee before the 341 meeting.

Personally I have found this the hardest part of working with an experienced bk lawyer. To my husband and myself, our case is the whole focus of our world, where to our lawyer, it's just one more case of many he has. Of course, I can't say whether your lawyer is a good one or not, but I have found that when I've panicked about something involving our case and our lawyer said it was no big deal, it eventually did turn out to really be no big deal. The bk lawyer-to-bk trustee relationship seems to be a very "clubby" one in most districts (we witnessed this because we decided to attend our confirmation hearing - before the hearing officially started and throughout as each case was called, it was more like friends having casual conversations with each other than a formal legal proceeding). Be sure to ask your lawyer about this because he needs to know you have concerns about it, but if he has a dedicated bk practice and still says things are ok, I would trust that until proven otherwise.

3. We noticed we were off by a few dollars a month on our son expenses on the means test (not to our favor). Can we amend those amounts on the means test prior to the 341 meeting and if so will that even make matters worst?

I would leave well enough alone - a few dollars a month isn't worth asking for (and paying for) an amendment to your forms.

Please keep us posted on what happens with the US trustee supoena - hang in there!

Our combined income was above our states average. We did have to go beyond the first part of the means test. Schedule J line 20. (c) Monthly net income was minus $2,197 Other Expenditures:$383.00

[Interlaw]

We filed Chapter 7. Here is our problem. My wife and I were in our attorney's office this past Friday, September 8th signing a reaffirmation agreement for our auto loan. Our 341 meeting is on Monday, September 18th. Then he mentions by the way that he received this subpoena from the US Trustee asking for two items. One being all documentation and explanation related to "Continued contributions to care of household or family members" which was included on our mean test statement. We still contribute a large amount of support for our son who is twenty two years old but suffers from a number of mental health issues and is under care of a psychiatrist. We pay his rent and other living expenses do to the fact he has difficulty not being able to work or hold a job. Our attorney said that we should include him in the means test which we did. He ran the means test two ways. Including those expense items for our son and not including them. We pass the means test either way. The other item that the US Trustee wants are the last three months of bank statements. I don't think the two request are related. They want all of this information by Friday, September 15th. (Our 341 meeting is Monday, September 18th) On top of this, our attorney says he will be out of town all of next week when this material is due to be given to the US Trustee. He said that he would contact the US Trustee and let him know that he won't be around. My questions are:

1. If the US Trustee disallows our son expenses even though we still pass the means test, can he still try to force a Chapter 13 on us?

2. How can our attorney just take off the week before our 341 Meeting and make light of the subpoena. I would like to get this information to the US Trustee before the 341 meeting.

3. We noticed we were off by a few dollars a month on our son expenses on the means test (not to our favor). Can we amend those amounts on the means test prior to the 341 meeting and if so will that even make matters worst?

Any help with this would be appreciated

1. If the US Trustee disallows our son expenses even though we still pass the means test, can he still try to force a Chapter 13 on us?

The UST is simply following orders and checking items off a list. Once this information is provided, these issues will go away. And if you pass the means test anyway, it won't matter.

2. How can our attorney just take off the week before our 341 Meeting and make light of the subpoena. I would like to get this information to the US Trustee before the 341 meeting.

Hey, your attorney has a life too! <g> I understand your stress and worry, but providing the info today or at the 341 is unlikely to affect the eventual outcome.

3. We noticed we were off by a few dollars a month on our son expenses on the means test (not to our favor). Can we amend those amounts on the means test prior to the 341 meeting and if so will that even make matters worst?

You can, but if it doesn't substantively affect things, it's only a few dollars, and your attoreny doesn't think it's necessary, I certainly wouldn't do it by yourself.

Brett Weiss
[email protected]

************************************************** ***************
The Small Print: This response is for discussion purposes only.
It isn't meant to be legal advice and you shouldn't treat it as
such. If you want legal advice, speak with a local lawyer
familiar with your state's laws who can review *all* of the
facts and the law applicable to your situation.
************************************************** ***************

[sophie]

Interlaw,

At our 341 meeting the trustee said I will not recommend until further investigation. ( he was referring to our income). We make more then the medium, however we passed the means test. Our debt was much greater than our income. He questioned our attorney about how he came up with the figures for the means test., etc. Everyone ahead of us was in and out 2 minutes. We were there for almost 30 minutes. Have you experienced a trustee recommending someone for a 13 although we have no extra income (we're really in the negative). I'm really nervous about this. Thanks.