Will trustee raise any issues with my budget?

[newbie2]

This will need a lot of explanation to the trustee and will be heavily scrutinized.

Look at it from the perspective of the Trustee... You are doing a wire transfer of $2000 each month to a relative instead of paying back your creditors. (Wouldn't we all love to do that!)

On its face it looks suspicious. Might be totally legit, but will require plenty of explaining, and even then it still might not fly.

You betcha it will be questioned, and probably disallowed. Heck, the trustee in our case disallowed $160 per month to help our elderly parent and she lived with us.

[LadyInTheRed]

The following is from Line 40 of the Chapter 13 means test and Line 35 of the Chapter 7 means test:

Continued contributions to the care of household or family members. Enter the total average actual monthly expenses that you will continue to pay for the reasonable and necessary care and support of an elderly, chronically ill, or disabled member of your household or member of your immediate family who is unable to pay for such expenses.

If the OP's parents have no other source of support, the expense may be allowable.

[momofthree]

The following is from Line 40 of the Chapter 13 means test and Line 35 of the Chapter 7 means test:



If the OP's parents have no other source of support, the expense may be allowable.

I completely agree that this should be allowable. However, the op hasn't been paying bills for the parents but rather sending cash that the parents can basically do with as they please, which I think could pose a problem. The trustee may want to further scrutinize the parents income, expenses & financial records. As long as the money is being used for basic living expenses with little wiggle room, then I think it will be fine...but if they have income coming in from elsewhere or unnecessarily high expenses, it could be a tough fight...

[LadyInTheRed]

I completely agree that this should be allowable. However, the op hasn't been paying bills for the parents but rather sending cash that the parents can basically do with as they please, which I think could pose a problem. The trustee may want to further scrutinize the parents income, expenses & financial records. As long as the money is being used for basic living expenses with little wiggle room, then I think it will be fine...but if they have income coming in from elsewhere or unnecessarily high expenses, it could be a tough fight...

Exactly why I used the word "may". I'm sure the parents will need to document any other income and their expenses. But, if the parents really do need the support, the fight would be worth it.

[NoMoreCards]

The quote about the means test above states "members of your household".

I suspect if your parents lived with you and you helped them it "may" fly, but to just send a chunk of change each month to another household and yet be unable to pay your own bills will not.

Please discuss this with your local attorney to see what options you may have.

[jacket]

Thank you guys. As I'm reading the line 40 from means test...

"Continued contributions to the care of household or family members. Enter the total average actual monthly expenses that you will continue to pay for the reasonable and necessary care and support of an elderly, chronically ill, or disabled member of your household or member of your immediate family who is unable to pay for such expenses."

This doesn't mention directly that my immediate family members have to live with me as my understanding...!

Hope my Atty will provide more info on this. This is my biggest concern because my mom is in late stage Alzheimer's patient and my dad has heart problem and retired 8 years ago with no benefits. I've been paying for them since.

How to find a good Atty? What should I look for? Another member of this forum gave me a name for the Atty in Atlanta area. I'm trying to get few of them. Thanks for your help!

[LadyInTheRed]

or disabled member of your household or member of your immediate family who is unable to pay for such expenses."

This doesn't mention directly that my immediate family members have to live with me as my understanding...!

I read it the same way. Your parents are immediate family, so they don't appear to have to live with you.

For attorneys, try National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys: http://www.nacba.org/ Talk to a few before making any decisions.

[NoTomatoCan]

To the OP...

Your original question was: "Will trustee raise any issues with my budget?"

I think the short answer is absolutely.

You are on the right path by trying to make sure you have a REALLY good attorney. Yours will not be an easy or straight forward case. You need to make sure that you get an attorney who handles complex CH13 cases.

[jacket]

Ditto SMinGA. The trustee will probably question a lot of these expenses, as it sounds as if you're a household size of 2.

Do you pay bills for your parents, or just send them cash? I'm not sure how the trustee will handle that.

To the OP...

Your original question was: "Will trustee raise any issues with my budget?"

I think the short answer is absolutely.

You are on the right path by trying to make sure you have a REALLY good attorney. Yours will not be an easy or straight forward case. You need to make sure that you get an attorney who handles complex CH13 cases.

Hi NoTomatoCan...thank you very much for your advice. I really appreciate it for all you guys' support here in this forum.

[jacket]

With lot of advices from this forum in mind, I decided to consult with 3 different groups of Attorney.

Large Firm (more than 5 Attorneys):
Given my situation above and disposable income, they gave me somewhere between 40-50% payback plans. (One of the firms considers themselves the largest BK fillers in GA).

Medium Firm (3-5 attorneys):
Again same situation, somewhere between 60-80% payback plans

Small Firm (1 attorney)

[debtinohio]

With lot of advices from this forum in mind, I decided to consult with 3 different groups of Attorney.

Large Firm (more than 5 Attorneys):
Given my situation above and disposable income, they gave me somewhere between 40-50% payback plans. (One of the firms considers themselves the largest BK fillers in GA).

Medium Firm (3-5 attorneys):
Again same situation, somewhere between 60-80% payback plans

Small Firm (1 attorney)

I'd go with the lowest % payback :-) That's where the money stays in your pocket.

[SMinGA]

Get an explanation - detailed - of what they're proposing. If none are 'objecting' to your expense list then they should arrive at the same result in terms of plan payment.

[researchnerd]

I think the thing to remember is that it is not the attorneys who determine what your payback percentage will be. They can give you a ballpark estimate, but until everything goes to the trustee you will not know for sure. Some attorneys may give a lower number because they have a ton of experience and can negotiate that for you, but others might give you a low estimate so you'll hire them, and then hang you out to dry with the trustee. I'd say, go with the ones that seem to have the most experience with your kind of complex case. No matter what the payback % is (it doesn't really matter), you'll be more likely to end up with a competent attorney in your corner and a plan you can afford and successfully complete.

[sharina]

I have a "small office " attorney - just him. With this guy, you get the impression he just wants his clients to pay back a large percentage so relatively nothing gets challenged and he doesn't have to work very hard.
I am very dissatisfied, but didn't know what I was getting myself into when we 1st "signed" with him. Now, we are asking for some help with a modification and it is worse than pulling teeth.

IF there was a next time, I would go with an office with more than 1 attorney - I think 1 person feels too stretched unless they are an energetic and motivated personality and strong work ethic.

[LadyInTheRed]

IF there was a next time, I would go with an office with more than 1 attorney - I think 1 person feels too stretched unless they are an energetic and motivated personality and strong work ethic.

Those are qualities I want in any attorney, regardless of the office size. So far, I am very happy with my sole practitioner with two staff members.

I really don't think office size is a good way to judge the quality of the representation you will get. What's important is whether you will have easy access to the attorney, the quality of the attorney and her staff and whether they have processes in place to make sure the workload is managed efficiently. A large firm can take on more work than it can handle as easily as a small firm.

Unfortunatley, when interviewing firms, it is difficult to figure out which ones handle their workload well. To help, there are some things a potential client can ask themselves after an initial consultion:

1. When you arrived, were you greated promptly by a staff member? Or did you have to work to get somebody's attention?
2. Did the meeting start on time? If not, were you given an apology and/or an acceptable reason?
3. Was the attorney relaxed and generous with her time or did she seem rushed and anxious to get you out the door?
4. Did you have a chance to ask all of the questions you had?
5. Did the attorney discuss specifics about your situation or just give you a broad overview of the BK process?
6. Did you leave the meeting with a clear understanding of what the next steps are if you want to retain the firm?
7. Was the atmosphere in the office relaxed or frenzied? If the office was busy (which is not the same as frenzied), were people working through things methodically or were they running around in a panic?
8. If you heard the receiptionist (or other staff member) answering phone calls, how were those calls handled?

These are just a few things off the top of my head. Maybe others can think of more.