What to do when receiving a Monetary gift after the 341 meeting.

[Blazertrek50]

I filed for bankruptcy, chapter 7 and will be attending the 341 meeting this week. The filing is under my name but includes my wife (community property). However my wife will be receiving a monetary gift of approximately $15,000, from a relative, sometime this month. What I want to know is, should I report this to the Trustee or is that not necessary? From what I have read, any property or significant funds received after the 341 meeting is not relevant to the bankruptcy.

I would appreciate any comments or advice.

Thanks.

[tobee43]

i would contact your atty. even though your 341 is done, your bk is either discharged or closed. i would just make certain, because if they find out, and it is possible as the transaction is over 10k, it really could be more trouble for you than even the money is worth.

best of luck, i'm certain it will all turn out for you!

[justbroke]

I don't think this is an issue at all. Just inform your attorney who should tell you that bankruptcy is a snapshot of what happened BEFORE filing. Unless it's an inheritance, then it should not affect you at all.

[hmsmith]

I received a homeowner's check for our house that we sold last year and my attorney told me any amount over $200 that I should inform him. We still had enough money left in our wild card so it was fine for us. I also got a check from property taxes (again from selling our home last summer--and it came a year after we closed) and also told my attorney.

MY attorney advised me to hold any check and not cash it until I talked with him. For us it ended up being fine because the checks were not large, but for $15k I would definitely ask my attorney before I cashed it.

[LadyInTheRed]

I received a homeowner's check for our house that we sold last year and my attorney told me any amount over $200 that I should inform him. We still had enough money left in our wild card so it was fine for us. I also got a check from property taxes (again from selling our home last summer--and it came a year after we closed) and also told my attorney.

MY attorney advised me to hold any check and not cash it until I talked with him. For us it ended up being fine because the checks were not large, but for $15k I would definitely ask my attorney before I cashed it.

That's a much different situation than a gift received after filing BK. It sounds like you were already entitled to the money at the time you filed BK. So, it was part of your BK estate.

Money received after filing that the debtor was not entitled to on the date of filing is not an issue, unless it is an inheritance, a divorce settlement or life insurance proceeds. I agree with JB that a gift is not an issue, but that the OP should let his attorney know about it.

Also, assuming property laws are the same in WA as they are in CA, and I believe they are in this respect, a gift to the OP's wife wouldn't be an issue even if she received it before the OP filed as long as she kept it separate from the OP's assets. A gift is the receipient's separate property. The separate property of a non-filing spouse is not part of the BK estate.

[Blazertrek50]

I don't think this is an issue at all. Just inform your attorney who should tell you that bankruptcy is a snapshot of what happened BEFORE filing. Unless it's an inheritance, then it should not affect you at all.

I would tend to agree with you "just broke", as from what I have read you are right-on about the snapshot. And since the IRS doesn't require any reports on this "gift" I don't think this is relevant, though I will run it by my attorney, as a hypothetical.

[Blazertrek50]

I spoke with my attorney today and he informed me that I did not have to report the "gift" from our Aunt as it was not part of the bankruptcy. That is it was not expected, known about and did not relate to the "picture" of our financial status when we filed. Yay