Top 10 things you bought before chapter 13 was filed???

[jrg77]

Hello I'm here in Arizona and I was told by my atty to leave only $150 in my checking account and was told to spend the rest of my money on food, bills or attorney fees and I'm wondering what else can be bought right before bankruptcy is filed???

discuss.

[hughthehand]

i think generally you dont want to make any major purchases 6 months before you file. definitely do not use your credit cards. It could be cause for them to make things more difficult.

[Over our heads]

Glasses, contacts, if you take monthly rx's ask your Dr. for a 90 day supply rx, any dr's that you have been avoiding .

I kid you not, all of my kids have been to the dr, when they normally only go when sick, 3 out of 6 of us have gotten new eye exams, we are saving the buying of the glasses for right before we file (7). Our dr.s give us 90 rx's already.

Does your car need a tune up? Oil change, rotation, new (reasonable) tires?

Basically, anything that you would normally buy that is necessary, feel free to stock up on or to purchase.

We won't be running out of tp or diapers for a loooong time!

[HHM]

Well, that is dumb advice coming from an attorney because it doesn't matter how much you have in your bank account for a chapter 13. For a chapter 7, you want as little in your account as possible, but for a 13 it really does not matter (within reason, obviously you don't want a huge amount, $5000+ as having that much will effect the amount of your payment in some cases).

[filingin08]

Why dumb advice? In Ohio you can only exempt $400 per person. I'm assuming anything over that somehow gets added into the payback and not that the trustee would want a check immediately (could be wrong).

[krielly]

I concur. We are also in a 13. You can only exempt so much from your bank accounts. I'm confused why you would say that as well.

K

[HHM]

But in the 13, the trustee DOES NOT TAKE ASSETS. So it is a moot point how much you have in your bank account (for the most part).

Equity in assets in a chapter 13 can effect your payment amount.

[krielly]

Actually, I was under the impression that our trustee COULD seize non-exempt assets to distribute. Depends if you are a chapter 13 asset, or non-asset case. Although yes, you can keep assets if you choose to pay extra to do so, why have to potentially pay a higher payment, to pay for cash you could have pulled out of your checking/savings account in advance of filing?

[HHM]

Actually, I was under the impression that our trustee COULD seize non-exempt assets to distribute. Depends if you are a chapter 13 asset, or non-asset case. Although yes, you can keep assets if you choose to pay extra to do so, why have to potentially pay a higher payment, to pay for cash you could have pulled out of your checking/savings account in advance of filing?

It does not matter either way, you keep assets in a chapter 13. The only time you would be required to liquidate an asset in a 13 is if your disposable income did not exceed the value of non-exempt assets.

There are two criteria to your chapter 13 payment
1. Your disposable income. For most people, this is the only factor because in most cases, the amount of their monthly disposable income x60 exceeds the total value of non-exempt assets.
2. However, the plan must pay at least the amount of the non-exempt equity in assets. Generally speaking, most people do not have that much non-exempt cash lying around. The only time it would be an issue is if you had other non-exempt equity such that the value of non-exempt assets would exceed your disposable income.

[krielly]

Yes.....you are correct. Most folks do NOT have that much cash lying around. Especially those of us who need to file

[Elf]

For the last few months leading to the file, I prepaid gas, electric, phone, and water. I then paid those bills on time, but if I got into trouble-- like a car repair, I was able to skip or send a smaller payment that month. I carried a balance. I added to that balence during months that I had an extra dollar.

CH13s fail most of the time, and I decided that the failures were the result of a tight budget with no wiggle for an emergency. I didn't want a fail on the 13. I wanted done and out, so I padded the utilities. I also have an aversion to living in the dark.

[flower04]

My state can take up to 25% of waged earned income at time of filing.