Florida Middle District Approved Plans

[ameangreenbe]

Hi,

I'm working on my CH13 budget. Has anyone posted (or is willing to post) their approved plan / budget? I'm trying to get the sense of what one looks like. I have the IRS and my local trustee guidelines but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Family of 5 BTW (all kids under 6) - Pray for me

Thanks in advance. I'll be glad to share any info I receive of course.

[justbroke]

Are you a pro se filer? A plan is very specific. I looked at the Middle District's site and there is a format for the Plan posted there.

I found this looking at the Tampa Trustee's site...

http://www.tampa13.com/documents/PLAN_003.pdf

One of the things I'd suggest, if you are pro se, is making sure it's in the right format if that Court has a particular format to follow. Otherwise, ask the Trustee for a sample Plan.

The one above seems to be used by the Middle District of Florida in Tampa. My personal one was not in that format (but I'm not in that District). I've seen so many different formats, it's not even funny. The program that most attorneys use, Best Case, doesn't even output the Plan in the format at the above link.

The key to the plan is classifying the claims properly (into different classes), and based on how that Court likes to see them. Usually it's Priority claims first, then secured claims, then lien avoidances, and finally the unsecured creditor percentage (and total).

While you can look at an approved plan for formatting, never look at it for what to do. For example, the sample form I listed, only shows a single equal payment amount over 60 months. Your plan may not be 60 months, and your payments may not be equal. This is why I would only use the "samples" just for formatting and that's it.

The other major part are the "Other Provisions". These can help you and hurt you. What you put here are parameters around the items listed in your Plan. They can constrain a creditor or open you up to various things. A creditor may even object to something you write in Other Provisions. Other Provisions are essential to protecting your particular rights... and may actually trump an unknowing creditor's rights... or vice versa. Just copying someone else's "Other Provisions" is not a good thing. Language placed here becomes binding on you and your creditors.

For example, the Tampa example has a provision which reads "Property of the estate shall not vest in Debtor(s) until the earlier of Debtor’s discharge or dismissal of this case, unless the Court orders otherwise.". I have one which reads the opposite! My "provision" reads "Upon confirmation, property of the Estate shall revest in the Debtor".

If you don't have PACER, then get it. I would then check your Judge's calendar. I would look to the prior 6 months at "Final Confirmation hearings" and look up a couple of cases. Specifically, find the Plan being confirmed (by Document Number). If none of this is making sense, then just let me know which part doesn't. (Also, post under the "Pro Se" section of this forum. I don't answer all posts in the general area of this forum, but I do look at everything in the "Pro Se" section!)

Ah, to be going through confirmation again...