When does court start checking into your personal records?

You have a big misconception about how the process works and you should be asking your lawyer these questions.  If they haven't explained the process to you, you should hire a different attorney.  Plain and simple. First of all, the bankruptcy court doesn't "check" into anything.  There are certain documents that must be submitted to the court (such as the bankruptcy petition and schedules) and some that get sent to the Trustee in your case (such as tax returns).  Which documents depends on which chapter you are filing. Obviously none of these get submitted until your case is filed. Mark Markus has been practicing exclusively bankruptcy law in California since 1991.  He is a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization,  AV-Rated by martindale.com, and A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau.