Gifts for baby received prior to filing.

[wellnowwhat]

I'm going to be filing Chapter 7 in a few months, however my wife and I are expecting a baby in about a month. We have a baby shower coming up and will likely be receiving gifts from our family and friends, some small things (like diapers, bottles, etc) and some larger items (like a car seat). It's unlikely that any of these gifts will exceed $200.

How does receiving these items prior to filing affect my case, if at all?

[justbroke]

They should not affect your case. In fact, if you have the baby before you file, then you would have different numbers to use for a household size of 3, rather than 2. As for the property, you should be able to include it in any deductibles. Remember, that it will not be worth the retail price when you file for bankruptcy; those items will have "yard sale" value.

[DeadManCrawling]

We addressed this question when we filed, regarding our youngest son.

Attorney responded thus: "Your son is the owner of his property. Not you. No need to report any of his belongings." I imagine the same standard would apply here. Though you are the baby's parents, the baby does retain ownership of his/her bottles, diapers, clothes, etc. I doubt any trustee in the country wants to be known as the one that took the baby's car seat.

[justbroke]

It really does depend on the filing State/District in how certain items are treated, especially furnishings that your child "uses" but does not own. For example, some Trustee would certainly say that the furnishings in your child's room belongs to the parents. Similarly, they would say that the ownership of toys is still the Parent's toys. For the most part, no one generally cares about small things like disposable diapers, and clothing. (There are several States which lists "toys" as household goods (personal property).)

While they won't literally take a car seat, things can add up to the point where they could take something else. i would hope that parents would exempt the car seat rather than the parent's stereo. Again, I don't think it would be a major issue, and $200 is certainly nothing to worry about.