Claims

[plumbob]

Hello all, I was discharged in Nov.08!! At that time there were no claims made by creditors. Not a word from any of them. My question is, if none of them made a claim or objection, can any new assets or old assets still be taken by the trustee? Or if I receive a inheritance or tax refund can the trustee still take that and give it to the creditors. My case was a no asset case and it is still open 'till projected date of 12/31/09. It says pending until investigating. My lawyer says they say this just to make sure you don't win the lottery or big windfall before they close the case!! I just don't know!!!! Thanks in advance!!!!!-plumbob

[plumbob]

Anyone?

[IBroke]

My case was a no asset case and it is still open 'till projected date of 12/31/09. It says pending until investigating. My lawyer says they say this just to make sure you don't win the lottery or big windfall before they close the case!!

Interesting - so an open BK prevents you from winning the lottery.
Well, so let's win on 01/01/10 then.

Congrats on your discharge. Well, to answer your question:

"Old" assets: If the assets were exempt, the trustee can't touch them. BTW, how can you have assets in a "no asset"-case?

"New" assets: I think unless the case is closed, the trustee can get his fingers on them - however, I'm not an attorney but I recall reading something like that on a different thread.

[plumbob]

Thanks Ibroke, my case says no-asset, but my trustee interm report statement says no assets, but at the bottom it says projected closing date of 12/31/09 and says reason pending investigation! So really I'm not sure of anything!!!

[lrprn]

Thanks Ibroke, my case says no-asset, but my trustee interm report statement says no assets, but at the bottom it says projected closing date of 12/31/09 and says reason pending investigation! So really I'm not sure of anything!!!

It's possible that your trustee is holding your case open for an inheritance (did you indicate one might be coming during the six months after discharge?), to see what your 2008 tax refund might be, or because the trustee suspects something is fishy about your case and wants more time to investigate it. Keep pushing your lawyer for the real reason, or sign up for PACER and look at the court documents that the trustee filed yourself. (It only costs $0.08/page and most pages are free.)

The trustee can't hold your case open just because he/she wants to. There has to be an legitimate legal reason to do so.