The short answer to this is question is…everything! Whether you are filing your own North Carolina Bankruptcy or using a North Carolina Bankruptcy lawyer, you need to make sure that you identified all of your personal property on Schedule B of your Bankruptcy Petition. If you fail to list all of your personal property on Schedule B, it is possible that you may not be allowed to claim the unlisted property as exempt or even worse, your discharge could be denied in egregious circumstances if the failure to include the property is intentional.
Obviously, you will want to include common items of personal property such as appliances, electronics, furnishings, collectibles, jewelry, household items, automobiles, and recreational vehicles. However, it is common for bankruptcy debtors to omit less obvious property from Schedule B. For instance, any automobile that is titled in your name should be included on Schedule B. This is the case even if you do not drive the car. For instance, a parent whose name is on the title of a car that the child drives, and has always driven is likely to be considered parent’s car for bankruptcy purposes. Therefore, the parent must include the car in his or her Bankruptcy Petition.
Another common item that is mistakenly left off of Schedule B is what is know as a cause of action or legal claim. Generally, a cause of action or legal claim is your right to initiate a lawsuit against someone else for some type of legal wrong. For instance, if you were involved in a car accident a month before filing bankruptcy, you would include your claim against the driver involved in the car accident in Schedule B of your Bankruptcy Petition. Another and more interesting example, is if one of your creditors violated the Federal Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) and/or the North Carolina Debt Collection Act (NCDCA), you will want to include that cause of action against your creditor in Schedule B.
If you have any questions regarding the property that you must include in your North Carolina Bankruptcy Petition, please feel free to contact our Durham Bankruptcy Attorneys or Greensboro Bankruptcy Attorneys, via the Free Consultation Contact Form to the right, by email at info@kregerthacker.com or by phone at 1- 888-820-5885.