Chapter 13 increase in Income

[montana]

O.k. so I sent in our income tax papers to our lawyer and he forwarded them to the trustee.(To see if we could keep our return). We had a jump in income. I have been trying to contact him(our lawyer) about this and no return phone calls so I figured it was no big deal. We received a letter from the trustee that we needed to amend our plan to reflect the income. Now our lawyer wants to see us. I am so nervous. I do not know what to expect. Could someone please fill me in on what to expect. Also are there new standards for expenses out there that maybe increased that could help us so our payment does not jump up to much. Our income changed about 10,000 dollars this year. (But we are still broke and living paycheck to paycheck it seems)!

[dlinid]

What percentage of your unsecured are you paying back? If it is less than 100% I am guessing they want you to pay more due to your higher earnings. Check all your expenses to make sure they reflect the current spend. Have any of your fixed expenses gone up, ie insurance or utilities? Hoepfully your attorney will ask you these questions, so maybe checking those things out first can get you started in the right direction.

Good luck!

[Flamingo]

Your disposable income has risen which means that you have more income available for creditors during the course of your Plan. Your plan will be modified accordingly. Your attorney will go over any and all increases in other areas you may have had. Remember, the trustee is there to protect the interests of the creditor and to get them as much as possible of the debt owed to them and your financial house is under his control during the course of your Plan.

You state your income has risen $10,000 for the year. If you were still broke the year before with $10,000 less, you need to figure out what you did with this extra $10,000 over the course of the year because you know any expenses you have did not also rise $10,000. If you are still broke after a jump in income like that in a chapter 13, you are going back to your former lifestyle prior to filing unless you saved it. You need to go over everything with your attorney and budget carefully to finish your Chapter 13 successfully.