Chap 13 question

[celticsfan]

I've been in my chapter 13 60 month plan for almost 3 years. So have about 2 years left. I've reached out to my lawyers office several times if I need to do anything like send in my tax returns etc. Everytime I ask they say no you're all set and keep doing what you're doing. They also said if their are any issues the trustee sends it to us and also mails it out to you. I also asked them if I could try to get credit card to build and they said no problem. I almost feel in a way things are going too smoothly and also confused on why the trustee wouldn't want my tax return. Has anyone had a chap 13 experience like this? I am wondering if I am overthinking things or not. Any insight on this would be appreciated.

[justbroke]

Whether or not a Chapter 13 Trustee, or plan for that matter, requires that you send a copy of your annual tax returns is, well, both plan and Chapter 13 Trustee specific. There are many people that are not required to send in the tax return. There are many Chapter 13 Trustees that won't bother you so long as everything is good. In some Districts, debtors are allowed to incur debt and maybe even up to a certain amount.

But the largest driver that seems to determine whether or not you are under a more strict plan, is the amount that is due the creditors. In a so-called 100% plan, you are paying back all the creditors 100% of their claims. In that case, there are little if any restrictions on a debtor. A debtor basically gets the protection of the bankruptcy court while enjoying life as normal... so long as the debtor pays 100%.

Celtics... they say that the 1976 Celtics had the best final ever played.

[celticsfan]

Thanks for your response. I am definitely not in a 100% plan. I was actually shocked at the amount they told me I had to pay. Was under what I thought. I guess my other question is, am I to trust my lawyer's office that I'm all set?

[justbroke]

You should be able to rely on what your attorney is telling you. Unless your Order Confirming Chapter 13 Plan says something differently, your attorney is your trusted source.

[celticsfan]

Stupid question.....Where would I be able to see my order confirming my plan? It's been a while and don't remember seeing that.

[justbroke]

You can ask your attorney or you can log into PACER. I don't recommend going into PACER if you are represented because you could accidentally generate a very large bill. I would hope that your attorney gave you a copy of the order confirming plan since that is what you would go by (not the "plan" itself as the order could override certain things in the plan).

[shipo]

Go to https://pacer.uscourts.gov

[flashoflight]

I also strongly discourage you from using PACER because it isn't hard to accidentally do a search that costs serious money. Just ask your lawyer for the confirmation order. It will take him two minutes to get an electronic copy from your file. If you want to learn PACER, do it at the federal courthouse in-person because it's unlimited there. Don't learn from home. After you know it, then you can do PACER from home but be careful.

[shipo]

I'm curious, how is it PACER can cost serious money? I used it monthly for many months and it never cost me a penny. Yeah, if you look up everybody you know, and their siblings, it could cost, but for a single account I think one would be hard pressed to run up even a dollar in charges.

[justbroke]

If you don't know how to run the query correctly, you could bring back thousands of records. While PACER has a cap for certain operations, queries are not capped. I ran a single query, once, and it was $8.00.

If you know what you're doing and only search your specific case number, you would likely never go over $0.80 (for your docket). Properly searching for your exact case costs nothing (if only one record is returned). The docket can cost a little. My docket is over 200 entries and cost $0.70 every time I look at it.

The problem is with generic case searching where there is no cap.

When I was first learning PACER and reviewing cases and petitions for my Pro Se filing, I ran up a $112 PACER bill in about a week or two.

[Zombie13]

Check your email as well; it is possible your attorney sent you a copy of the confirmation that way. We retained every email and paper-mail correspondence. At some point we're going to have a "burn party".

[Carmella]

I'm curious, how is it PACER can cost serious money? I used it monthly for many months and it never cost me a penny. Yeah, if you look up everybody you know, and their siblings, it could cost, but for a single account I think one would be hard pressed to run up even a dollar in charges.

I am in the same boat. I don't think I have ever paid and if I did it was minimal like a few bucks. I knew they charged so I was extra careful. I would say if you use PACER do so with caution! And shhhhhhh!!!!! I did look up some other people. Joking aside I was always cautious and you can download or print some of your info if you want to refer to it later.

I think everything is going smoothly with your plan or the attorney would let you know otherwise. I have gotten letters from the trustee for the yearly summary and when my mortgage company changed the payment and of course when we requested getting a car loan it had to be approved. I received a printed copy of the document after confirmation that has all the info about my plan and the attorney also sent a letter with it saying what we would need to do/when to contact them.

[celticsfan]

Does anyone know within pacer once I have my case up.....Which option I would pick to see within the confirmation if I am required to submit my tax returns? I see a bunch of doc numbers with things such as Schedules A-J, Chapter 13 Plan, Amended Chapter 13 Plan. I am aware there is a charge I just need to know where to go

[justbroke]

It is typically, and only, in the Order Confirmation Chapter 13 Plan.

Since you are represented, I would ask my attorney for the order confirming your chapter 13 plan. You can also ask them to point out the location in the order which goes to tax returns and tax refunds.