As we recently discussed on the National Bankruptcy Forum website, in every instance where you retain an attorney to assist with a legal matter, it is important to fully disclose relevant information.  This is particularly true in the context of bankruptcy; the point of filing a bankruptcy case is to get a discharge of your debts.   An honest debtor gets a fresh start, but the trade-off is that you have to let the trustee have all of your “non-exempt” assets. That means you have to tell the trustee about everything you have.  If you forget to tell the trustee about everything you have, it’s a very bad thing because you could lose your discharge; the trustee can sell or dispose of the asset anyway; you might be committing a bankruptcy crime; and if you are committing a bankruptcy fine, you could go to jail.  Here are some things you might think are not assets but must be disclosed:

• Your jewelry
• Money you have in your house but not in the bank – even if it is literally in your mattress
• Things you own that are in other people’s name
• Things you didn’t buy but were given to you as gifts
• Things you in inherited from others and are “just heirlooms”
• Things or land you have in other states or even other countries.
• Rights to get paid for something in the future, even if you are not sure how much – maybe a lawsuit, maybe some rights under a trust agreement or estate.

In Bankruptcy cases almost every asset and financial action is relevant regardless of how minor it may seem at the time. Determining which documents are relevant in this regard should be left up to your bankruptcy attorney.

-Drew Broaddus