Q: How long after a Chapter 7 filed is it determined to be an asset/no asset case?
We are currently in a Chapter 7 in the state of AL we have lived her 1.5 years, and moved from CA, and other than providing the required information, our attorney barely communicates with us. I have sent her several emails with questions, and no response. We are in a very small town, and our law office only has a couple of attorney's working. Not to imply they are not busy, just that it is not a huge firm. We just need some basic information to determine where we are at in the process. We are trying to find out how long after filing is it determined whether you are an asset or no asset case? We filed end of October/early November. We have now had 2 creditor meetings because our attorney did not give the trustee everything he asked for with the first one. We technically only have one asset that could not be completely exempted. I believe after exemptions it was worth about 25,000. It is our only reliable vehicle that fits the full family.
A:
In my PA district, around Philadelphia, the trustees send out a "no-asset" notice shortly after the 241/first meeting of creditors is completed. IOW, that's about a month or two after the case is filed.
Non-responsiveness of counsel, at least in the bankruptcy field, is not uncommon, where a firm employs a number of paralegals/staff to perform the bulk of the work, and the attorneys do little more than lend their names to the case (although they must appear at scheduled court hearings. Your local bar association, state bar, and US Trustee's office, each regulate bankruptcy counsel's representation to some degree.
Timothy Denison agrees with this answer
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