Ay, ay, ay!

[lotsahats]

I was looking over the questionarie the attorney gave me at yesterday's consult. It's more or less the questions from the bankruptcy paperwork, just not on official forms. I guess the attorney is going to fill out the forms himself, based on the answers I give.

One of the questions asks for a list of the books I own. Really? They want to know about every single book I own? Am I literally supposed to write...

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Assets
Harry Potter and the Adversary Proceeding
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Trustee

LOL. Okay, so I threw in a little joke, there, but, in all seriousness, do I really need to be that meticulous?

[nohoneymoney]

We were asked for similar information. We gave a rough estimate of the number of books and a collective 'yard sale' estimate of the value. We did not have any expensive or collector type books so the value was very low. One of a kind books such as your "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Trustee" could be quite valuable and have to listed separately. (Only half blood and not all the blood???) The same was true for house furnishings etc. Appliances were listed separately but by function not by make and model. Work tools were just one line item as were hobby items. Quick sale prices were used for all of it. Hope this helps

[mountanddo]

I was not asked for this information separately. In fact all my possessions went into the category of household items. I put everything I own in that category except for specific pieces of furniture like my bed and living room furniture and my TV and priced it at $450. I was never questioned about anything. Maybe I just don't own anything of value but I never separated out my Wii and the games I have and accessories and I was offered $200 for that on CL. I decided to keep it. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Books at garage sales are about .10 a piece, even books that you think are valuable aren't. Try doing a search on the "we buy your books" site. I never was too worried about this probably because I knew they weren't going to raid my house and discover 10 extra things I didn't list. Just be honest with what your stuff would cost at a garage sale. I'm sure the trustee sees thing that seem strange like having a cable bill but not listing a TV - LOL.

[SMinGA2]

Some books could be valuable, I suppose. Perhaps your attorney is trying to avoid unpleasant surprises at the 341? This way, your attorney can work with you to make sure your schedules are accurate. Personally I made a list of belongings room by room to go over w/ the attorney. Not in super-fine detail, and I did sum up books and such in one line each. (Hubby owns lots of books. Probably could not get more than $.25 each at a yard sale - but they're worth something...)

Consider the alternative, kind of a worst case scenario: say Jane Doe told her attorney she owned nothing of value & the attorney didn't prod for details, so the schedules show misc. household furnishings and nothing else. On the day of the 341, trustee notices Ms. Doe is wearing an antique ring and brooch. Yet there is no jewelry on the schedules. Now trustee sees Ms. Doe as a potential asset case. Uh Oh!

[AngelinaCat]

We were told to categorize things such as '3-piece bedroom suite--150.00; 'assorted pots and pans--20.00; 'assorted VHS tapes and DVDs--20.00; and so on. Otherwise I was counting every single little thing, right down to the paring knife with broken tip--with which I was ready to do myself in, if the attorney hadn't stopped us.

Remember to use yard sale prices. And you have 'old' whatever, nothing 'antique'.

[StartinOver]

Its been a long time since I read or posted in here. SOOOO glad we did the bk, and really wish we'd done it sooner and been done with it sooner. So, Lotsa, stop ay ay ay ing and just git er done! Really. I did what you're doing and agonized over every detail, read this site and every other bk site I could find (this one is the best, eventually I stopped reading all of the other stuff and just asked my questions here). I took MONTHS to get our act together enough to do the filing, and held out as long as I could, trying to wrangle a home loan modification. Long story short. Push came to shove a long time ago, and that's when I should have acted. So we decided to move on it and then I couldn't go fast enough through the process. (The only thing we took a long time on was the pre-filing and post-filing training... but only because you have to spend a certain amount of time on it, so we had fun answering a question and then going to eat some dessert, then reading a bit more of the training, answering the next question and taking the dog out to piddle, etc. Silliest waste of 2 something hours, but that's what it took to complete it but not too fast!)

Anyway, I got my spreadsheet program out, listed categories of belongings (based on the ones that the bk filing paperwork uses, and entered lines for each thing in it. Then I used the salvation army website's valuation for the items, and because I'm a fuss-ass for detail, I searched craigslist for similar items and put the average price found on craigslist in the next column. I used the higher figure for my value and that list gave me confidence that I had not left anything out and not underestimated anything, while not overestimating either. And the attorney looked at it and amended a couple of their generalized estimates of household property for persons in our income level DOWNWARD!

In the 341 hearing, that aspect of our bk was of zero interest to the judge. Not a single question went in any depth.

Do relax and just get this chapter over and done with in your life. You have a whole book of exciting adventures to live and you can't get to them til this is done. Good luck!

When

[keepsmiling]

Big Harry Potter fan here. I would love to buy your rare edition of the Half Blood Trustee. I have the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Debt, perhaps we should arrange a book swap
The good news is that you haven't lost your sense of humor! (Wonder if they want you to list that too.... hmmm.. valued at...)
If I had to list every book I own (bought at thrift shops for .25,mostly) it would take me a month and a ream of paper. How silly, and can't believe any tt wants to have to read all that.
Perhaps you could just list them as Paperbacks/Hardcover or some other general category. (Fiction/Nonfiction? Harry Potter/Non Harry Potter? Witchcraft/Wizardry?)
okay now I am getting silly....

[oregonpilot]

The good news is that you haven't lost your sense of humor!
(Wonder if they want you to list that too.... hmmm.. valued at...).....PRICELESS
okay now I am getting silly....

...Silly is ALWAYS an asset.
I'm silly all the time and i never plan on growing up.

[keepsmiling]

On the day of the 341, trustee notices Ms. Doe is wearing an antique ring and brooch. Yet there is no jewelry on the schedules. Now trustee sees Ms. Doe as a potential asset case. Uh Oh!

Note to all Ms's Doe: The 341 date is probably not a good day to wear your finest jewelry. Just sayin'.
Not implying any dishonesty, but why tempt the devil?

[lotsahats]

Note to all Ms's Doe: The 341 date is probably not a good day to wear your finest jewelry. Just sayin'.
Not implying any dishonesty, but why tempt the devil?

Who's fine jewelry? Mine? HA!