Confirmation hearing questions.

[southernmama]

Our hearing is on 3/9 and our 341 was on 11/10/16. We have not heard much from our lawyer and she says no news is good news but I'm scared to death that our Trustee is going to object on everything. (I'm a worrier) What are some things they can find to object on? Thanks guys! This forum has been a life saver.

[justbroke]

The Trustee, in most jurisdictions, will usually send something known as a recommendation for confirmation or a "unfavorable" recommendation for confirmation. That document, which is usually filed with the court, would highlight which portions of the proposed plan are problematic for the Trustee.

Remember, a Chapter 13 is a marathon, not a sprint. In this business, no news IS good news.

Here are a few things that Trustees typically complain about;

• You're not dedicating all your disposable income to the plan. An example may be that the Trustee believes that you miscalculated your tax withholdings (based on your tax refunds in prior years). Another example may be that you are claiming $300 for "telecommunications" on the means test (where may Trustees don't like anything more than $100 on that line).
• You failed to list the treatment of certain secured creditors. An example would be that you have a mortgage listed in your Schedules, but you have no treatment for that secured creditor in the Plan.
• You failed to follow the "model" plan.

[southernmama]

Thank you. I see all these posts of how fair and nice their trustees are while our trustee made is very clear he was not our friend. Do trustees find something to object to the majority of the time?

[justbroke]

Do they look for things, certainly. Do they always find things, most of the time. Are they your friend, absolutely not. But what they do want from you, is for you to succeed. As my Trustee said to me, she was not successful unless I was successful. (Thinking back, she was making $700/month for me to write 3 checks, so... that was $42,000 over 5 years to write 180 checks... I digress.)

For Chapter 13s you can get a Trustee that just doesn't like your numbers and you may just get on their bad side. What they don't like is debtors that appear that they don't want to change their lifestyle. The Trustee administers the estate on behalf of the bankruptcy system and on behalf of the creditors. Some will try to squeeze more from you, but I never had a fight with my Trustee over my plan or my plan expenses, even though I was Pro Se!

[southernmama]

It sounds like your trustee spoke to you like a human. Our trustee spoke to us, and everyone before us, like we were beneath him at our 341 but our lawyer prepared us for his personality. Unless they modify our numbers, we will pay $1704 a month for the next 60 month. We're still trying to adjust but I never know what to expect.

[justbroke]

In the Chapter 13 system, I have found that the actual Chapter 13 Standing Trustee does not handle the caseload. My Trustee actually had four staff attorneys that handled 341s, confirmations, and most court appearances.

I agree that many Trustee staff attorneys have their own "personality". I started to get along with my assigned trustee attorney and actually had her to start calling me on the phone after I would send an email. It was a rocky start, but I'm sure she was trying to figure me out. I have seen other people have extreme difficulties with the same trustee (staff) attorney.

[southernmama]

Thank you for your help. In your experience, do they usually ask for any additional documents from us prior to the hearing? I know we don't have to go.

[justbroke]

In my personal experience, no. A confirmation hearing, or a "continued" confirmation hearing, are about the status and whether the case is ready to be confirmed. By the time you get to the final confirmation hearing, everything should be ready and the final plan payment rendered.

[southernmama]

Thank you for your information.