Mistakes to avoid when you consider
filing for bankruptcy in Ohio
Don’t use your credit cards, take
Cash Advances, use convenience checks, or do balance transfers on your credit
cards.
Don’t use your credit cards
in a substantial way within 90 days of filing.
Don’t pay money to family
or friends.
Don’t transfer money prior to filing
for bankruptcy.
Don’t leave
assets off your Bankruptcy Petition.
Don’t file when you are owed a
substantial tax refund.
Don’t file bankruptcy if you are about
to receive an inheritance or large insurance settlement.
Don’t try
to hide income from your small business.
Don’t sell, transfer or
give property to anyone without talking to your Bankruptcy Attorney.
Don’t cash out retirement
plans or 401k’s.
Don’t take out a second mortgage.
Don’t hide assets or debts.
Don’t take out “payday loans.”
Don’t “save” a credit
card with a balance for after your bankruptcy.
Don’t fail to list debt to family
or other “insiders.”
Don’t write bad checks.
Don’t forget to tell your Bankruptcy
Attorney about liens you may have on your home so they can be avoided.
Don’t
make major financial decisions without consulting a Bankruptcy Attorney.
Don’t
misrepresent any facts to your Bankruptcy Attorney or the Bankruptcy
Court.
Don’t have more than about $800 in
your bank account (or other liquid assets, such as cash, stocks or
mutual funds) on the day of filing for bankruptcy.
Time the filing so that you file on a day when
your bank account is at an absolute minimum.
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The Court will ask that you provide
a bank statement for all your
accounts and they will rely on the account
balance as listed in
the statement, not the balance in your check
register. Taking the money out and paying your
bills with money orders will ensure that the
balance is low.
Don’t pay a relative or friend significant
amounts of money (more than about $400) or otherwise transfer any assets
out of
your name within the year
prior to filing bankruptcy. Don’t pay
any unsecured creditor more than $600 in
the 90 days before filing bankruptcy. Don’t
incur more debt once you have seriously considered
bankruptcy as an option.Don’t charge
on any card for 90 days before filing bankruptcy. Don’t file if you are intending to
sell your real estate soon.
Bankruptcy is a great opportunity to
get your financial life back on track. Courts
want to
help meritorious
debtors, but
there is
little patience for
people who are not honest. As my grandfather
would have said, “Pigs
get fat, but hogs get slaughtered.”
If
you believe you have made one or more
of the bankruptcy mistakes listed above,
or have
any
issues related
to them, be sure to
discuss them with
your Bankruptcy Attorney. Some of them may
be corrected.
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