se help.HOW MUCH WILL THEY ALLOW US TO LIVE ON,UNDER MEDIAN

[mark3413]

We are under the median income for a family of 5 by about twelve thousand dollars, however we have decided to file chapter 13 in order to keep our home, etc. even with over 900.00 per month in overtime for the past 6 months, our attorney said we were still below the median , and with our mortgage ( 2 months behind) included, our payment will be 950.00 per month. He said even though my overtime pay is included that we were below our media enough that the trustee probably wouldnt try to take anymore than the proposed 950.00 month. my question: Does the trustee usually accept the proposed plan & payment amount( my lawyer seemed confident).I just don't want my payments to go up, now that our company has cut ALL overtime out.Also we have a family of 5. Is the amount allowed for food allowed by the court?I don't want them to decide that instead of being allowed 650.00/mo. for food they will make us live on their figures.Also how much of a family insurance payment are we allowed to have in Tennessee.I'm kinda scared, and confused on what to do.

[momofthree]

No worries about $650 being considered too high by their standards. IRS standards for a family of 5 for food is over $900/mo. The IRS standards are very liberal IMO (we are also a family of 5). In fact, total IRS standards for food/clothing/misc expenses are $1633/mo for a family of 5. We spend less than half of that each month. Trustee didn't bat an eye at our expenses, but they were all quite a bit lower than the IRS standards.

You can check out those standards for yourself here:

http://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/20100315/meanstesting.htm

How did your attorney come up with your payment? That seems high for someone under the median who probably doesn't have much disposable income, unless it includes some secured debt. What does your payment include? car payments? mortgage arrears? past taxes? what percentage is he planning to go to unsecured? Do you have any non-exempt assets that you're planning on keeping? Have YOU calculated your dmi on your own? Does it match his figure?

[justbroke]

I don't know if I'd go into a Chapter 13 with $900/month of your "under the median" income being from overtime. Overtime is so... unpredictable, and to go into a Chapter 13, you really really really need to have "regular" income. Okay, enough said about that.

The key to getting the right plan, is having the right attorney. He will help you get the right amounts set for food, clothing, housing, etc.

I want you to rethink the home though. Unless you're less than 10% underwater, I would seriously think about just going Chapter 7, and being done. If possible, do a ride-through on the house... if it's underwater. If you have a 2nd mortgage and that's the majority of it being underwater -- and you can strip the 2nd mortgage -- then some more math needs to be done. In any event, I want you to make the right financial decision and not just a decision to keep the house.

[mark3413]

se help.HOW MUCH WILL THEY ALLOW US TO LIVE ON,UNDER MEDIAN

our payment amount included 1,900.00 in arrears on the house. thw house payment is included in the chapter 13 plan, which is 615.00 per month mortgage payment when we're current. also a vehicle is included in the plan, but i only owe 500.00 on the car, and it will be paid off. I'm trying to get the car paid off before i file, so it will be cleared. we owe 74k on the house, and it's valued at 92k, so we're wanting to keep the house and include it in the plan.no other secured debt. It's all c.c, and medical bills 9 around 60k total.OT at work has been cut out so basically with the past 6 months of overtime, our gross yearly income was 55k. Now without ot, it goes down to 45k per year gross, for a family of 5. this board is a great help. thank you all for your input.I just want to make sure i can afford the payment when i file. if it don't go up, i'll be fine

[momofthree]

With it including your mortgage payment that seems pretty reasonable, but if I were you, I'd fight to pay less unless you have nonexempt assets that you're keeping. As it stands, your payment includes:

$615 mortgage
$53 arrears (based on 36 month plan)
$55 attny fees (estimate of $2000)
$72 max trustee fees
=$795

(assuming you pay the car off before filing)

So, potentially, you could be paying $155 less per month than the attorney has suggested depending on if your state allows a 0% unsecured payback....With your family size and income, that extra $155 could be the difference between being able to complete the plan or failing, especially since overtime is no longer available.