Question about 100% plan

[QuinnReilly]

Newbie back again. My main concern about a Ch. 13 repayment plan is having to hand over any bonuses, increase in income, tax refunds, etc., leaving no way to build a safety net.

My mortgage and car loan are not behind at all. I have around $100k in cc debt that I'm trying to resolve due to a bad decision to sign up with a debt settlement company and in impending judgement. I take home about $6 k a month. If I calculate my total cc debt and add my attorney retainer and divide by 60, that equals about $1708 per month. How much does the trustee get?

If I had a 100% plan and either continued to pay the mortgage and car loan on my own or wrapped it into the repayment plan, if the rest is around that $1700, I can make that work with a bit of tightening in the rest of my budget. If it's a 100% plan, can I assume then that any bonuses, tax refunds, increase in income would not need to go to the repayment? That would be my money to save? I am potentially up for promotion in about a month and am hoping for a decent bump in my salary. If I can feel confident that any additional money I bring in is mine and doesn't go to the trustee, I will feel much better about this decision. I'm in Illinois if that matters.

Thanks in advance for the advice?

[Zombie13]

Hi QuinnReilly .
Yes. If you are in a 100% plan, paying your entire amount over the 60 month period, then any increases in income should be excluded from the bankruptcy estate, so to speak. If you get promoted and earn more money, that's yours. Just make the payments: the bk payment, mortgage, and vehicle. The trustee is paid a portion as well, for their efforts managing the process. I think that's a percentage of the total amount, like 10% maybe. But: check with a bankruptcy attorney about all of this.
Also: if you are enrolled in legal insurance with your employer, check if financial/credit/bankruptcy coverage is included. You may save money using that option.

[shipo]

Newbie back again. My main concern about a Ch. 13 repayment plan is having to hand over any bonuses, increase in income, tax refunds, etc., leaving no way to build a safety net.

My mortgage and car loan are not behind at all. I have around $100k in cc debt that I'm trying to resolve due to a bad decision to sign up with a debt settlement company and in impending judgement. I take home about $6 k a month. If I calculate my total cc debt and add my attorney retainer and divide by 60, that equals about $1708 per month. How much does the trustee get?

If I had a 100% plan and either continued to pay the mortgage and car loan on my own or wrapped it into the repayment plan, if the rest is around that $1700, I can make that work with a bit of tightening in the rest of my budget. If it's a 100% plan, can I assume then that any bonuses, tax refunds, increase in income would not need to go to the repayment? That would be my money to save? I am potentially up for promotion in about a month and am hoping for a decent bump in my salary. If I can feel confident that any additional money I bring in is mine and doesn't go to the trustee, I will feel much better about this decision. I'm in Illinois if that matters.

Thanks in advance for the advice?

There really is no such a thing as a 1-size-fits-all boilerplate Chapter 13 plan, or, said another way, take 100 debtors with 100 attorneys and run them through the filing and approval process; you'll have 100 different plans, so there really is no way to answer your question with any degree of accuracy.

In my case I was not in a 100% plan, far from it actually, and yet I kept all 7 of my bonuses, 4 of my 5 tax refunds (and the first $1,250 or the 5th), and all of my salary increases; over the course of my 60 months my income rose about 40%. I was able to build a small rainy day fund from the various bonuses and tax returns, and every time I got a salary increase, I just increased my 401(K) withholdings to the point where in my final two years I was contributing the IRS maximum (and I'm old enough to qualify for the additional "catch-up" contribution).

[anunezal]

I am in 100% repayment plan. Very similar to your situation. I have my mortgage and car payment by myself. I get a big bonus. So, Now basically what I am paying is total debt * 12% divided by 60. The 12% is 10% to the trustee and 2% to the Credit cards. All my debt is to credit cards. The trustee only accepted no to get my bonuses by adding a note that the 100% plan is not negotiable. Basically what it means, it is that no matter what I will pay 100%.
I have been in the plan for one and a half year. So far the trustee has pay to himself 10% for 14 months, and 4 months he paid 5%. So, basically it makes the last payment a little bit smaller. Also I am planning to pay part of my bonuses to reduce from 5 years to 4 years if I can. But this is only my personal decision.
Also another big fight was the tax return. The trustee wanted my tax returns. So far I haven't sent them to the trustee, and I have no heard anything from him. I am paying 100% of my debt, so he should not care where the money comes from.

[QuinnReilly]

Thanks everyone! I'm feeling much better about this now. It will be tight for a while but hopefully this promotion will happen (seems pretty sure) and I will get some immediate relief. Now to hope that not all the creditors confirm and the total amount reduces.

My next step is to complete the questionnaire my attorney needs to calculate the payment and ask my mom to borrow the funds needed to file.