It was a lot easier than I thought, the trustee was very nice, but questioned a couple of things.
Sorry this is so long. I'm just very frustrated/upset and need to vent. Maybe someone has been through a similar experience and can offer some advice. I felt like we could have lived on the plan we had, but worried about having to pay more.
The two things he questioned:
Educational Expenses: $ 200/month, I told him that covered my son's soccer fees, my daughters tumbling, after school art classes, etc.
He said the judge won't approve that since it is recreation. Or son is 10 and our daughter is 8. I understand that this seems like a lot, but my son plays on the "all star" soccer team. We pay 1,500 per year for him to be on the team. This includes professional coaches fees, uniform fees, and tournament fees. I'm not even including our travel expenses back and forth to practice and to out of town tournaments. I know this sound like a lot for someone filing Ch 13, but our son is ADHD and this provides the physical activity he needs. They practice three times a week and it is the only sport he is really passionate about. Our daughter goes to tumbling and occasional art classes. I don't think this is too unrealistic since they hardly get any physical activity/art in school these days. Yes, my son could play recreational soccer for about $125/year, but it isn't challenging enough for him and they only practice once a week and the season is about 6 months long. With all star the season is 10 months.
Babysitting Expenses: $325/month - He asked me if we actually pay that much each month, I said no that is our monthly average like everything else. The bulk is in the summer $200/week for two kids for a teenager to babysit them at our house, then an average of $100/month the rest of the year. He didn't see this filed on our taxes and said the judge would want documentation that we paid this. I did pay this, but never filed it on our taxes since it was a friend's daughter and a couple of other neighborhood babysitters we used. I do not want to ask them to sign a letter stating we paid them this since they are the children of friends and neighbors and will raise questions.
Does the trustee have the final say or the judge? The trustee seemed very nice and seemed to be advising us on what the judge would question. My attorney said he and his paralegal will work my numbers some more and see what they can come up with and not to worry now. I just can't help but think this will make my plan go up $525/month which means we will have nothing extra at all.
I'm wondering if we can include some educational expenses such as school lunches, but I think these are covered under the monthly food allowance. What about school supplies? Field trips? Field trip t-shirts? Science fair expenses. These can really add up, but I haven't save any receipts. Plus they won't off set the expenses in question, but will help a little.
I have been honest on everything. Can we still submit it as is to Judge and see what he says or would that be worst? Or maybe we can lower the number some so they don't look so high. They babysitting we are using is a lot less expensive than what the YMCA or other day care/after care providers charge in this area plus our children are in our own home.
Sorry this is so long. I'm just very frustrated/upset and need to vent. Maybe someone has been through a similar experience and can offer some advice. I felt like we could have lived on the plan we had, but worried about having to pay more.
The two things he questioned:
Educational Expenses: $ 200/month, I told him that covered my son's soccer fees, my daughters tumbling, after school art classes, etc.
He said the judge won't approve that since it is recreation. Or son is 10 and our daughter is 8. I understand that this seems like a lot, but my son plays on the "all star" soccer team. We pay 1,500 per year for him to be on the team. This includes professional coaches fees, uniform fees, and tournament fees. I'm not even including our travel expenses back and forth to practice and to out of town tournaments. I know this sound like a lot for someone filing Ch 13, but our son is ADHD and this provides the physical activity he needs. They practice three times a week and it is the only sport he is really passionate about. Our daughter goes to tumbling and occasional art classes. I don't think this is too unrealistic since they hardly get any physical activity/art in school these days. Yes, my son could play recreational soccer for about $125/year, but it isn't challenging enough for him and they only practice once a week and the season is about 6 months long. With all star the season is 10 months.
Babysitting Expenses: $325/month - He asked me if we actually pay that much each month, I said no that is our monthly average like everything else. The bulk is in the summer $200/week for two kids for a teenager to babysit them at our house, then an average of $100/month the rest of the year. He didn't see this filed on our taxes and said the judge would want documentation that we paid this. I did pay this, but never filed it on our taxes since it was a friend's daughter and a couple of other neighborhood babysitters we used. I do not want to ask them to sign a letter stating we paid them this since they are the children of friends and neighbors and will raise questions.
Does the trustee have the final say or the judge? The trustee seemed very nice and seemed to be advising us on what the judge would question. My attorney said he and his paralegal will work my numbers some more and see what they can come up with and not to worry now. I just can't help but think this will make my plan go up $525/month which means we will have nothing extra at all.
I'm wondering if we can include some educational expenses such as school lunches, but I think these are covered under the monthly food allowance. What about school supplies? Field trips? Field trip t-shirts? Science fair expenses. These can really add up, but I haven't save any receipts. Plus they won't off set the expenses in question, but will help a little.
I have been honest on everything. Can we still submit it as is to Judge and see what he says or would that be worst? Or maybe we can lower the number some so they don't look so high. They babysitting we are using is a lot less expensive than what the YMCA or other day care/after care providers charge in this area plus our children are in our own home.
Bankruptcy Wizard
Comment