Question about receing child support

[foolishpast]

I am preparing to file for chapter 13. I will be hiring a lawyer to handle this but being the obsessive person I am I am desperately trying to figure out what I'm in for.
My son is 17. I will be receiving child support from his dad for another year. How do they account for this in a chapter 13? Is it factored into my available income and then adjusted when it stops?
Also, my 20 year old daughter still lives with me while she is going to college. I bought her a car a couple of years ago and am still making payments on it. Will they allow me to continue this or make her sell it?
This forum is wonderful. I have spent much of the weekend getting answers to so many questions!!!

[lrprn]

My son is 17. I will be receiving child support from his dad for another year. How do they account for this in a chapter 13? Is it factored into my available income and then adjusted when it stops?

The child support will be factored in as income when you file. When the child support stops, just give your lawyer a few month's heads-up so he/she can file an amended plan that takes your child support out of your income figures.

Also, my 20 year old daughter still lives with me while she is going to college. I bought her a car a couple of years ago and am still making payments on it. Will they allow me to continue this or make her sell it?
This forum is wonderful. I have spent much of the weekend getting answers to so many questions!!!

A question first....is your daughter's name on the car's title and loan as well as yours?

[foolishpast]

Yes, her name is on the title as well. I thought I was helping her build her credit by adding her name to it. I'm so scared I might be ruining her credit iinstead....

So if I receive 1,000.00 per month in child support then my available income to pay back creditors would be about 700.00. After it ends my available income will be negative. Since repayment is 3 to 5 years, how would that work for the remaining 2-4 years I will have left?

[lrprn]

Yes, her name is on the title as well. I thought I was helping her build her credit by adding her name to it. I'm so scared I might be ruining her credit iinstead....

You are filing, not your daughter. You can't hurt her credit, only your own.

It's actually an advantage to have her name on the title and loan. That means she owns half the car - makes it much less a potential target for the trustee if you can't cover the car's equity with your state's auto exemption.

So if I receive 1,000.00 per month in child support then my available income to pay back creditors would be about 700.00. After it ends my available income will be negative. Since repayment is 3 to 5 years, how would that work for the remaining 2-4 years I will have left?

If your income falls enough after filing and there's every indication that the income drop will last a long time or be permanent, then what can be done depends on how much losing your child support impacts your income.

If your lawyer runs the Means Test and Schedules with your new lower income and you still have enough disposable income to support a Ch 13, then you stay in Ch 13 and your lawyer files an amended plan that reflects your new income and likely a significantly reduced payment. However, if the loss of child support then puts you under your state's median income, then as soon as your six-month lookback puts you under the state median income, then your lawyer can likely convert your 13 to a Ch 7 at that time.