Kind of the 341 from Hell. Our trustee was an a$$, but he was like that with everyone. I felt so sorry for one couple before us. They had received their stimulus check after filing. The wife called the trustee's office to ask about using the money to catch up with their mortgage. The trustee gave her permission, but didn't make a note of it, so he was demanding that $1,500 back.
Ours went okay, until we got to my copyrights. He requested a copy of all my contracts from different publishers. He's trying to say the copyrights are property of the bankruptcy estate. Yeah, except they've all been assigned to publishers for a set amount of time. I think he's hoping he can make me pay back the royalties I've received in the past six months, which is about $4,000. I really don't see that happening, since that money is my income, and I filed it as business income on Schedule J and Form 22A. He wouldn't be able to make someone with a regular employer pay back their salary, so I don't think he can do that to someone who is self-employed. I'm assuming once he reads the contracts and sees that I assigned the rights for anywhere from two years to the life of the copyright, on my behalf and any executor's behalf, he'll realize it's a dead end. I don't think it will be more than an annoyance and a few days of not knowing. I hope.
If we have to, we'll hire an attorney. I don't think we'll have to though. For one thing, when reviewing our petition, I realized I forgot to exempt the copyrights on Schedule C. I think that, coupled with the $5,000 wildcard exemption that I didn't use, should take care of the issue.
Other than that, it was quick, though he was condescending. He was like that with the other pro se filer that went before us too, so it wasn't personal. He's just a...well, I'd better not write what my opinion was (again). Seriously, though, he was on a power trip.
Oh, and no creditors showed up, and the U.S. trustee had no interest in us.
Ours went okay, until we got to my copyrights. He requested a copy of all my contracts from different publishers. He's trying to say the copyrights are property of the bankruptcy estate. Yeah, except they've all been assigned to publishers for a set amount of time. I think he's hoping he can make me pay back the royalties I've received in the past six months, which is about $4,000. I really don't see that happening, since that money is my income, and I filed it as business income on Schedule J and Form 22A. He wouldn't be able to make someone with a regular employer pay back their salary, so I don't think he can do that to someone who is self-employed. I'm assuming once he reads the contracts and sees that I assigned the rights for anywhere from two years to the life of the copyright, on my behalf and any executor's behalf, he'll realize it's a dead end. I don't think it will be more than an annoyance and a few days of not knowing. I hope.
If we have to, we'll hire an attorney. I don't think we'll have to though. For one thing, when reviewing our petition, I realized I forgot to exempt the copyrights on Schedule C. I think that, coupled with the $5,000 wildcard exemption that I didn't use, should take care of the issue.
Other than that, it was quick, though he was condescending. He was like that with the other pro se filer that went before us too, so it wasn't personal. He's just a...well, I'd better not write what my opinion was (again). Seriously, though, he was on a power trip.
Oh, and no creditors showed up, and the U.S. trustee had no interest in us.
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