On the bankruptcy questionnaire I give to prospective clients, the very first thing I ask them to value is their jewelry.
There’s a reason for that: it’s not that jewelry is subject to forfeiture in bankruptcy (in fact, there are generous allotments for debtors to keep jewels), but that it’s something that they are likely to show up wearing at the meeting of creditors in their case, and an alert trustee may notice a discrepancy with what is actually declared on the forms.
Something like that played out in Boston today, when a debtor who had already drawn the attention of the US trustee’s office showed up wearing eyeglasses from Lenscrafters that cost north of $1000. The case trustee, who had apparently been in the market for glasses himself this spring, spied the pricey frames.
It was pretty clear from the case that this woman was going to be “invited” back next month for a second grilling no matter what, but she didn’t help her cause by flashing the fashionable eyewear. Memo to debtors: there’s no need to dress down on purpose for a bankruptcy hearing, but you do need to make sure what you do wear is fairly listed on your schedules when you file the case!
by Doug Beaton