Income garnishment/pay deduction

[JLM0706]

What percentage of income does a trustee take if you file ch 13?

[flashoflight]

Nobody is going to know that answer.

It depends on the budget you and your lawyer come up with for chapter 13. You should look at the old posts on this forum about budgeting and expenses to get an idea of what will fly and what won't. For example, eating out every day even with receipts won't fly. Basically, if you have receipts from 2 months to 2 years prior to filing that show a history of that expense, it will *probably* fly if it is reasonable. If you suddenly come up with the higher than normal numbers and you don't have receipts to back it up, your budget number will get reduced and you're paying more to the trustee. Future expense estimates are worth a lot less than receipts and old bills. A sudden willingness to tithe at church on the eve of bankruptcy looks sketchy and won't be allowed. Some folks pre-plan their ch13 months beforehand to minimize how much to pay to the trustee over the next 5 years. It can get complicated.... for example medical bills of $700/month with receipts over the past few months seem like a slam dunk, but the trustee might look into it carefully and find out that most of them are one-time expenses and still fight you on it if it is not a chronic condition. Your lawyer will know the trustee well and will know what numbers are possible assuming you have receipts. Don't count on the trustee to take your word for it on anything sizable in the budget.

[justbroke]

flashoflight gave you the best answer. You "could" also look at Legal Consumer's "means test" tool. It will give you an idea, but it is likely wrong. So much goes into the plan that the tool is only a guide.