I was sitting in bankruptcy court this morning, waiting for my cases to be called, when something unusual caught my attention. The trustee who was presiding made a very sarcastic remark.
Now, I have to tell you, for some trustees that wouldn’t seem unusual. This particular trustee, however, is usually the soul of polite good humor. So I tuned in to see what had her spoiled her good temper.
Turns out there was a very fundamental error in the paperwork in the case. The debtor’s paperwork reported that she was married, but she is, in fact, single. That meant that all the numbers in all the calculations were wrong, and a large part of the budget and related paperwork would have to be done again.
Everyone makes mistakes once in a while (I am personally the dumb mistake champ) but this one was basic, and should have been easy to avoid. The trustee’s ire was directed primarily at the debtor’s attorney, but it is certainly something that anyone proofreading the paperwork should have caught. Including the debtor, who signed it.
One of your primary goals in filing bankruptcy should be to avoid annoying your trustee. And bad information annoys your trustee. Admittedly, there are some things that are just out of your control, but one thing that is squarely, and solely, in the debtor’s control is to proofread the paperwork that is filed in your case. No one else knows your situation like you do, and while you have every right to expect that the information you provide to your attorney will be correctly transcribed, you have the ability, and the duty, to read through it carefully to make sure that the paperwork is a true and correct as you can make it.
Your case cannot be filed until you have signed all the documentation, and you shouldn’t sign until you know the information is as true and correct as you can make it. You certainly have the obligation to read it carefully enough to determine that there is not such an obvious error as misstating your marital status.
But more than annoying your trustee, think of what it says about your case when you don’t read and correct your paperwork. It says, loud and clear, that you haven’t been careful, and that the trustee better look for other errors. Bankruptcy paperwork is signed under oath, under penalty of perjury, so It also says that you don’t take the oath very seriously. It will make your trustee wonder what else you might have omitted or misstated. Even if it’s the only mistake you make, do you really want to set yourself up for that kind of scrutiny?
It may have become habitual with some people to just sign what is presented to them. After all, that may be a part of why you ended up in bankruptcy in the first place–you may have signed loan agreements, mortgages, and credit card agreements that you didn’t read or fully understand.
Well, now is the time to change that habit. A good, experienced bankruptcy attorney will encourage you to read and understand the paperwork as much as possible. After all, he doesn’t want to be on the wrong side of a trustee tongue-lashing, either. Even if you filed your paperwork in a hurry, you can always review it and correct any errors later. And if you are sitting in court listening to someone else being chastised for not filing correct information, I know you’ll be glad you did.
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