Closing a bank account four months out from filing-is it a problem?

[Diesel73L]

I have a checking account with Wells Fargo that we no longer really use (wife and I moved our funds to a small local bank in anticipation of filing) and now that I'm not really keeping much money in it they're charging me a $5.00 "monthly service fee" My first inclination is to move the pittance (less than $100) out of the account and tell them to go screw, but I have read on here that closing bank accounts prior to BK can cause some trustees to get suspicious-is it really that big of a deal? I hate the thought of having to essentially "pay them" to keep the account open (and keep it from getting overdrawn) until after we file.

[justbroke]

They only get suspicious if there are LARGE amounts of money being moved. A balance of $100 is nothing. The Trustees are looking for several hundreds and thousands of dollars.

[despritfreya]

I always advise my clients to remove $$ from any Wells Fargo account or completely close the account prior to filing. Wells Fargo ='s very bad bank. Not a big deal as to a Trustee as long as you can account for the funds if the amount so justifies.

Des.

[hmsmith]

I closed an account weeks before filing because of the same thing. It was charging me and I had less than $100 in that account. It never came up with the trustee, although I did tell my lawyer. He said it was nothing to worry about.

[ksgirl38]

I wouldn't worry about it. I'm closing an account tomorrow and I haven't filed yet. Sounds like this one hasn't had much funds in it for awhile so there's no reason why you couldn't close it now. People do it all the time, as long as all the funds are accounted for then I wouldn't worry about it at all.

[LadyInTheRed]

A general pre-BK rule of thumb is don't do anything to hide assets or that makes it look like you are hiding assets. Even if the account had $100,000 in it, you could close it the day before filing and move the money to another account in your name or put it under your mattress, as long as you report the cash on your BK petition.