Bankruptcy

Filing for Bankruptcy: Don?t Hide Property

By David Leibowitz, Illinois and Wisconsin Bankruptcy

Filing for bankruptcy requires full disclosure of all your property and financial affairs.  Never hide property or assets when filing for bankruptcy.  Everyone leaves a trail. Even you.  If you think you can hide, you’re making a mistake.  For example, if you have property you mentioned in a prior document, you will be found out.

Here are some documents a trustee might look at to find out what you have previously stated you have:

• a financial statement to a bank
• a prior set of bankruptcy schedules
• a depreciation schedule on a tax return
• a schedule of insured assets on an insurance policy
• a home inventory you may have kept on your computer.

Not only that, but you will be found out by what your bank account, bank statements and canceled checks say.

And you’ll also be found out by what your credit card statements say you bought.

Remember what happened to Tiger Woods when his text messages were discovered?  You don’t want that to happen for you when you file your bankruptcy case.

Remember too that everything you sign in bankruptcy is under penalty of perjury. And all your testimony will be under oath.  Perjury is a crime.  So is hiding assets or taking a false oath in a bankruptcy case.

So when filing bankruptcy, tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Full post as published by Bankruptcy Law Network on April 04, 2010 (boomark / email).