Maryland residents who file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy should be open and honest about their finances. Disclosing everything to the bankruptcy trustee may help the process to go more smoothly than it would for someone who tries to hide things.
The bankruptcy trustee can look at almost everything
The bankruptcy trustee can request statements from every single financial account you own before the 341 meetings, where your creditors are entitled to be present. While the Bankruptcy Code does not officially require bank statements, trustees are allowed to request them from you. Bankruptcy trustees may ask you to provide up to two years of statements from every account.
Most bankruptcy trustees will not request a full two years of bank statements. In many cases, trustees only ask for statements from the past month or the past few months. Your trustee may ask for checking and savings statements as well as statements from accounts like PayPal and Venmo.
What the trustee is looking for
The bankruptcy trustee wants to look at your bank statements to confirm that everything you stated on your bankruptcy petition is true. For example, if you claimed that your rent is $1,000 per month, this should be reflected on your bank statement. The trustee will also look at your other living expenses, your cash withdrawals, your income and your bank balance on the date that you filed for bankruptcy.
Cash withdrawals
If you take a lot of cash withdrawals from your bank account, the bankruptcy trustee may question what this money was used for. As long as your income and expenses line up with what you included on your bankruptcy petition, everything should be OK. You likely can gather records of rent and other payments even if you paid in cash.