One of the factors in bankruptcy that causes my clients more anxiety than anything else is the trustee. What will she ask, they want to know. They also want to know if the trustee is going to show up at their home to look at their property.
The simple answer is, no. The fact is, the trustee doesn’t need to go to your house to find out whether or not you have listed everything. You are responsible for providing her with that information, and if you fail to list all you property, more likely than not, she’s going to find out.
When your bankruptcy attorney prepares your bankruptcy petition, you will have to provide her with a list of everything you own. Sometimes, items will be grouped instead of listed individually, such as kitchen items. No matter how they are listed, when you sign the petition, you are swearing that everything on it is accurate. When you go to the meeting of creditors, the trustee will put you under oath and you will again have to say that everything on the petition is accurate, including the property you listed. If you lie on the petition or to the trustee while you’re under oath, you risk prosecution and having your case dismissed.
Your creditors will look through your list of assets. If one of them believes that there is something missing, it will bring it to the bankruptcy court or the trustee’s attention. As long as you have honestly listed all of your property, there should be no reason for the court or the trustee to investigate whether or not there is any property you aren’t claiming.
Further, most personal property in a typical Chapter 7 case comes within the exemption limits. If you have property that falls outside those limits, the creditor may want to sell it and give the proceeds to your creditors.
So does this mean you’ll be in trouble if you forgot to include a piece of furniture? Not unless that piece of furniture was an 18th Century Chippendale chair. Err on the side of caution and list everything. You’ll be glad you did and won’t have to worry about getting found out.