Payments under Chapter 13

[im42nut]

How do you make the payments under Chapter 13? Can they be made as automatic deductions from your checking account, or do they have to come right out of your pay check?

[becky20]

Mine has to be paid with a money order or certified check - no personal checks and our trustee didn't require us to do payroll deductions (not sure if it was an option or not but it's not something I would want if I could avoid it...).

[daytona]

Depends entirely on the court...IE, State law.

[im42nut]

Thanks Becky!! Do you know if you can keep a certain amount of assets
as long as they do not exceed the value of the amt you are paying back over 5 years? - like a bank account for emergencies??? I am nervous but have no other way out

[Limitman]

Mine is a wage deduction however there are some weeks I dont' work and collect unemployment and I have to mail a personal check. Kind of sucks cause the UE weeks means I get less then half my UE check.

[klandsb]

I am in Western PA.... Payroll deductions are a no choice thing... Since I get paid every other wk they split the 2 extra paychecks out over the 12 mths ...
Chapter 13's are not designed so that you can have a stash bank account somewhere. Yes, you may save a little here and a little there and of course if your allowed you tax refund but they are suppose to take all of your disposible mthly income ..

[anxiouseric]

How about in middle district NC is it payroll deduction ? or u can send payment direct to them? anybody knows?

[lrprn]

Do you know if you can keep a certain amount of assets as long as they do not exceed the value of the amt you are paying back over 5 years? - like a bank account for emergencies??? I am nervous but have no other way out

No, as JustBroke explained when you posted this same question on another thread, any assets that can't be protected by your state's bk exemptions are at risk.

The amount of cash you can keep in an account after filing to create an emergency fund has nothing to do with the amount of your Ch 13 monthly payment either.

How much you can save for emergencies after filing depends on how good you are at doing without, sticking strictly to a budget for years, and saving every single dime possible for your emergency fund, no exceptions, until it reaches the point where you feel ok you can deal with an unexpected emergency. There's no easy way to do it, but it's crucial to do it.

[fireman32]

They are dong payroll decuction for me.

[lrprn]

How you are allowed to make your payments is completely dependent on your trustee or local court preference. Many only allow payroll deductions. Some insist on money orders, and others also allow payment by personal or bank check. Your lawyer can tell you which payment methods your trustee will allow.