What % Of Your Income Do You Keep?

[kenshirley]

I think we may have to file Chapter 7.
But I go 13 is there a rule as to what monies we can keep.
We are medically disabled living on retirement now.
We are surrendered our home (now in a rental) and our RV.
I am sure when sold there will be balances due in addition to the other debts we have.
With the rental and basic bills (rent/ultilites and basic stuff only) we have to pay now we have around $1300 left each month.
How far would a Chapter 13 filing reduce what is left down to?
We are impatiently waiting to see an attorney now for information. Appointments here seem almost impossible to get due to demand. We were just glad that 1 of 6 even bothered to return our calls for an appointment!

[Flamingo]

Have you reviewed the "Stickys" in the Chapter 13 forum? Can answer lots of your questions and provide you with lots of information...

[kenshirley]

Yes I did, but they have nothing to do with what I ask as near as I can tell.
We owe some $160K right now. The home is only a mobile and there is no land with it and we could not sell it at all with the current lending rules on them. It may only bring $15k against a $41K lien. We had two people with good credit that wanted to assume it but the banks are not lending money or even allowing much in the way of assumptions now on mobile homes.
The RV loan was $90K. It may be lucky right now to bring $50K. I tired to sell it and only got an offer of $42K which needless to say would not clear the loan.
We also have some $35k in unsecured debts.
So if we owe some $120K in Debt after the home and the RV are sold off, and they allow a 60 month payment plan that would be $2000 a month with no more interest no counting fees and such of course.
Obviously if I went 13 they would have to settle for less than face value.
My question relates to what percentage are you allowed to keep?
$1300 to buy food, gas, clothing and everything except rent and utilities is not a whole lot of money and that's what we have left each month.
I am afraid that if we go 13 we will be stripped.

[BnkrptcyLwyr]

I will assume that you are below median income debtors since you are now living off of retirement.

In a Chapter 13, what you will have to pay is determined by your disposable income and what you are trying to keep or retain in the bankruptcy (house, car, etc.)

Your disposable income is your income minus the regular and necessary expenses.

If you have $100 per month in disposable income. You pay $100.

If you have $500 - you pay $500.

If what you pay per month will pay off unsecured creditors in full, then they get paid in full. If it will only pay them $0.10 on the dollar, then that's what they get, and at the end of the plan, the rest is (generally) discharged.

[floridian]

my friend was going to do a 13.... with a family of four, and both parents working, they would only have six hundred bucks per month for food, gas and other expenses under the plan....

[spearmint]

I will assume that you are below median income debtors since you are now living off of retirement.

In a Chapter 13, what you will have to pay is determined by your disposable income and what you are trying to keep or retain in the bankruptcy (house, car, etc.)

Your disposable income is your income minus the regular and necessary expenses.

If you have $100 per month in disposable income. You pay $100.

If you have $500 - you pay $500.

If what you pay per month will pay off unsecured creditors in full, then they get paid in full. If it will only pay them $0.10 on the dollar, then that's what they get, and at the end of the plan, the rest is (generally) discharged.

What if the deb tyou have to pay back is unemployment compensation?