Expert: Terry Leeders - 1/2/2009

Question
Good evening,

I am 38 days into my 60 day waiting period on my chapter 7 case.  The trustee already filed a no asset report.  I completely forgot that I had about five other assets (money market account, IRA, etc totalling about $10,000) that were not listed on my schedules.  I am going to do an amendment because I would rather be honest and upfront.

My question is do amendments like these raise red flags or do they happen all the time?  Are amendments rare?  All of my exemptions are used up so I am hoping ALL the trustee does is change my case to an asset case.  

Can you see anything else happening in your experience, such as extentions to my discharge date or refferal to US Trustee?   I am just trying to prepare myself.

Thanks for your time.

Answer
Yes you do need to amend.  It is common, usually to add on a forgotten debt.  You need to send copies to the trustee too. The trustee may want to liquidate the assets, so be prepared to turn over any unexempt funds.  Talk to your lawyer about using your allowable exemptions to protect them.