Bankruptcy

"Do You Just Not Want to Know About the Money Under the Mattress in my Bankruptcy?"

By Joseph McDaniel, Esq.

And I have a baseline for comparison, because I've done it for thirty years.

Nowadays, folks who only care about price don't hire and Arizona bankruptcy lawyer, board-certified specialist or not, and I wish them well and hope for their speedy recovery, and hope that they don't lose money or cars or houses or tax refunds in their bankruptcy.

Folks who computer research an Arizona bankruptcy lawyer, or take a computerized look at the credentials or experience or background or qualifications and ratings of Arizona bankruptcy lawyers often find their way to my door, just because I've been filing bankruptcy cases in Arizona for so long, and therefore accumulated more credentials than a dog has fleas.

And that's nice in itself, because those potential bankruptcy clients are computer-literate to some extent or another, and that's good, because I will no longer take "here's a giant milk crate full of bills and lawsuits and demand letters" bankruptcy cases; they're just too resource-intensive for my poor, hard working staff, including Heidi the Bankruptcy Angel and Nina the Unpronounceable.

And I never mind it when somebody asks me something a little funky, because they don't know the standard in the industry, or the risks of doing shady stuff in bankruptcy cases, and if they don't ask (or read my blog) they'll never know.

A very nice guy with some terrible luck and bad problems talked to me a little while ago, and he asked me about selling a car and hiding the proceeds under his mattress before he filed his bankruptcy.

And I said, like you do when you're an Arizona bankruptcy lawyer who doesn't want his clients to show up at the first meeting in shackles and wearing striped pajamas, NO! That's a really bad idea! And it's a crime, and there's an enforcement push on bankruptcy fraud going on, with a zero-tolerance approach, as the trustee will tell you at the First Meeting of Creditors in your Arizona Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

When you testify under penalty of perjury.

If you sell a car for fair market value, and you list the places you used the proceeds, and you use those for food, fuel, provisions, a mortgage payment or three (as long as you don't wind up with more than the exemption in equity in your house, which isn't frequent these days)and a payment to your Arizona bankruptcy lawyer, well, that'll probably pass muster.

But DO NOT try to hide assets, especially cash, when you file a Chapter 7, Chapter 13, Chapter 11 or Chapter 12 bankruptcy proceeding in Arizona, because the U.S. Attorney's Office and the U.S. Trustee's Office will play "Poster Child" with the rest of your bankruptcy proceeding, and losing your discharge is the least that'll happen to you.

See, some people forget that they got Al Capone on a tax evasion charge, and if Al Capone, an experienced gangster and thug and crook, with a BUNCH of experience in ducking prosecution, got caught by accountants, what makes you think you're smarter?

That's a rhetorical question, of course. The OVERWHELMING majority of potential debtors are as upright as Mass on Sunday morning, and they'll break their backs (or at least their fingernails) trying to list everything they have, right down to the last antique hookah.

And I never mind if a bankruptcy client has a goofy idea, because they're just thinking, and have no real bad intent; some think about to make payments to their parents because of an old debt (NO, it's a preferential transfer! Not a crime, but mama gets sued.) or want to max out a few credit cards just prior to filing (NO, it's both morally wrong and fattening, and presumptively nondischargeable), or forget to list a beloved two-pound solid silver belt buckle that they actually won themselves (NO, it's a crime; buy the buckle back from the trustee for a few bucks, and don't wear the striped pajamas!).

And I have written about this topic previously, and I will write about it in the future.

List all your assets in your bankruptcy case. All, all, all.

List all your debts in your bankruptcy case, All, all, all.

Now, I was pleased with the sensitivity of the mattress guy; he did ask, "Do you just not want to know about the dough under the mattress? Wink, nudge?"

And of course, my response was simple; it's not a matter of my knowledge; you just can't do it, buddy! And don't do it!

And that's about one case in a thousand.

NOTHING HERE CONSTITUTES LEGAL ADVICE RE A CHAPTER 7, CHAPTER 13, CHAPTER 11, OR CHAPTER 12. FIND AN ARIZONA BANKRUPTCY LAWYER WHO IS BOARD CERTIFIED IN BANKRUPTCY LAW, AV RATED, AVVO 10 RATED, ON SUPERLAWYERS, OR JUST VERY EXPERIENCED AND A FORMER CHAIR OF SOME BANKRUPTCY SECTION OR COMMITTEE. NOTHING HERE MAY BE USED AS LEGAL ADVICE IN CONNECTION WITH ANY BANKRUPTCY, WHETHER THAT BANKRUPTCY IS IN PHOENIX, GLENDALE, TEMPE, MESA, SCOTTSDALE, OR ANYWHERE ELSE.

Full post as published by Arizona Bankruptcy Attorney Blog on May 15, 2010 (boomark / email).