Now that I am discharged and closed can I..

[familyof7]

Can I sale my house ? What if I sale it for more than the tax value? That was the value we gave the the trustee. So can I make a profit?

[HHM]

Yes, Yes, and Yes. (you have 3 questions, each yes applies to each question )

[NoName]

Yes, Yes, and Yes. (you have 3 questions, each yes applies to each question )

I thought that the Trustee could reopen your case within one year of closing to claim profits such as this. Or is that only in the case of a windfall profit, i.e. lottery or inheiritence?

[BKOnce]

I thought that the Trustee could reopen your case within one year of closing to claim profits such as this. Or is that only in the case of a windfall profit, i.e. lottery or inheiritence?

Don't worry, only IF fraud was involved, if any!?.. Only the filer know the answer

[spell]

Was your equity in the home exempt?
Do you expect the value listed in your petition to be similar to the sale price?

If so, that shouldn't be a problem at all.

If not, the trustee likely wouldn't find out. But if you're worried, you could delay the sale. Review with your attorney.
It wouldn't be fraud, because there was no intent, but you would be paying in any unexempt proceeds to your TT/creditors.

[familyof7]

The value listed in the petition was 91,000 which put me upside down in the loan. I am selling for 105,000 but my state gives us a 20,000 exemption so after paying off the loan 94,000 we get approx 11,000 still less than 20,000 exemption. I did not lie about the appraisal it was done 1 week before filing it was the tax appraisal. It may appraise for more or less by an independent appraiser who knows.

[HHM]

Let's clarify the so called "windfall" provision of the BK Code

The specific code section is 541(a)(5).

From 180 days of the "filing" date, the following items become property of the BK estate if the debtor could have received the property before the filing date.

(A) Bequest, devise, or inheritance (basically, if someone you know dies and leaves you some money or other property)
(B) A property settlement agreement with spouse or any other asset division made pursuant to a divorce proceeding.
(c) Beneficiary of a life insurance policy or other death benefit plan (again, if someone you know dies and you are the beneficiary of an insurance policy).

THAT'S IT. There is NO misc. windfall provision of the BK code. You can actually win the lottery while your BK is open, so long as the Ticket was bought AFTER you filed BK.

The concern here is maybe Section 541(6), "Proceeds, product, offspring, rents, or profits of or from property of the estate."

But as Spell pointed out, if your equity was exempt at the time you filed, any post petition increase in equity is your's. But, even then, your concern is a non-issue. Once you are discharged, the BK estate is terminated and any asset that the trustee did not object to as non-exempt is RETURNED to you. Moreover, the trustee is in a position to object to the value you placed on the house, if he fails to do so, the trustee is out of luck. You can do whatever you want with the house after discharge. Section 541(6) usually does not come up in consumer BK's, its more an aspect of business and farm BK's, i.e. if you own a retail store and you file BK with sitting inventory on the day you file; if you sell that inventory, the proceeds of that inventory is property of the estate, notwithstanding the fact that you received the money AFTER you filed BK.

[finallyfree!]

So if, say a mother or father dies and leaves an inheritance within 180 days of being discharged, the inheritance could be garnished to pay the debt???????? Please advise...my lawyer just said that if anything happened BEFORE the discharge, that could happen. She said nothing about AFTER discharge.

[HHM]

So if, say a mother or father dies and leaves an inheritance within 180 days of being discharged, the inheritance could be garnished to pay the debt???????? Please advise...my lawyer just said that if anything happened BEFORE the discharge, that could happen. She said nothing about AFTER discharge.

Yes...and not "could be", but "will be".

From 180 days after you file (basically 6 months from the date you file for BK), if one or both of your parents die and leave you an inheritence, AND there is no way to exempt some or all of that inheritence, that inheritence becomes property of the BK estate and trustee gets it (ALL OF IT).

[finallyfree!]

HHM, you said, "from 180 days after I file". I "filed" on May 31, 2007, and was "discharged" August 28, 2007. So does that mean that I won't be in the clear really until sometime in late November, using the filing date, not the discharge date? I will also have to ask my lawyer.

[DivorceRuinedMe]

Yes...and not "could be", but "will be".

From 180 days after you file (basically 6 months from the date you file for BK), if one or both of your parents die and leave you an inheritence, AND there is no way to exempt some or all of that inheritence, that inheritence becomes property of the BK estate and trustee gets it (ALL OF IT).

So, the smart thing to do then is if you have an older relative that may potentially leave you money is to have their will rewritten so that you get none of it and have it left to a trusted family member instead (say a sibling) with the understanding between everyone in the family that a portion of the inheritance is in fact yours. Would this be a way around this provision? And I know that's placing a lot of trust in someone but I'd rather my sibling steal the money from me than to have the BK estate get it, kwim?

[HHM]

HHM, you said, "from 180 days after I file". I "filed" on May 31, 2007, and was "discharged" August 28, 2007. So does that mean that I won't be in the clear really until sometime in late November, using the filing date, not the discharge date? I will also have to ask my lawyer.

You are in the clear unless someone dies on you and leaves you some money, property, or has you as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy. If someone dies on you between May 31, 2007 and November 27, 2007 and leaves you property, et al; you are supposed to report that to the BK Trustee

As a practical matter, the trustee does not follow-up on this kind of thing. Most trustee's do not comb the obituaries trying to match up names.