Southern District Indiana - New to This

[IndyNation]

Hi,

We had our Trustee/341 meeting a couple of weeks ago I think and I am a little confused about the next steps. I'm filing alone, but I am married so our income counts against me.

When we met the Trustee, it wasn't "The Trustee" it was a lawyer that work for them I guess? The Trustee seemed to think our expenses were inflated and we are above the means test for income and ability to pay back the debt.

Our Lawyer said we would object I think, does that mean it goes before a Judge next?

Thanks so much!!!
Sam

[flashoflight]

No, it's not going to go to a judge at this point.

Pretty much everyone gets an objection from the trustee for any little thing after the 341 meeting. So don't worry about it. You'll get a scary sounding letter from the trustee saying they filed the objection(s) and may move to dismiss your case. I've never heard of the debtor's attorney filing an objection because you'd be objecting to your own plan. The trustee will object to your plan. It's not unusual to be dealing with staff lawyers of the trustee. It's even possible that the trustee is not a lawyer at all, so he has to have staff attorneys do the dirty work with the debtor's attorney. Your lawyer will probably be dealing with the same staff attorney for the entire case.

In your case, it will be an objection to some of your expenses. Usually this happens on the day of or the day after your 341 meeting but there is variability on how each district conducts business. If you have proof of expenses like receipts and the expenses are reasonable, there is no reason to believe your higher numbers won't stick. Your attorney will be sending emails back and forth discussing the various issues the trustee has with your plan. Once your lawyer has an agreement with the trustee on the objections, your lawyer will file an amended plan. The trustee might find additional issues and object again or he might accept your amended plan. If you keep fighting it long enough, it will go to a judge.

[IndyNation]

Oh... thank you so much flashoflight The way you explained it makes sense now to me. I think I was confused by the terms objection and amendments.