Allowable Expenses and Daycare

[jenwms]

I am currently 15 months into a 60-month plan. Since the time of filing, my husband I are suffering a decrease in income from work. We have recently met with our attorney to amend our plan to not only account for the income loss but to also ask for additional food and clothing allowance as the budget is very tight for it as it stands. We also requested a childcare allowance for our 9 year old because the school boundaries have changed sending him to another school that has different school hours that do not coordinate with our working schedules for before/after school supervision.

My attorney stated that by law our son could be a "latchkey kid" and he would not include our requested increase of allowances in the new plan, even though we are a family of 7 and from the information I obtained from the Census Bureau, we are well below the allowable living expenses for food and clothing, even with the requested increases. Does anyone have any advice please?

[momofthree]

Do you have a minimum that you have to pay into the plan? (non-exempt assets, taxes, car payments, etc). Could it be that increasing your expenses at the same time that you're amending for reduced income that the payment would slip below that minimum? Sometimes lawyers aren't that great at explaining WHY what you propose wouldn't work.

[SMinGA]

Momofthree has a good point... If you have a minimum amount to repay - due to secured debts, mortgage arrears included in the plan, non-exempt assets you chose to keep, etc. - then any plan amendment has to cover these things. If you cannot, you may need to consider other changes. Like giving up non-exempt assets, moving to more affordable housing, etc.

If that is NOT an issue - then insist that your atty work for you. He is perhaps taking the easy way out, don't let that be an option. Insist on increasing your expenses.

If the increase in expenses & decrease in income is drastic enough, you may need to consider converting to a ch. 7.

[jenwms]

Thanks so much for the replies. He did not discuss mandatory expenses, just spoke about how the trustee will get mad because she'd be losing money (from the 10% fee). It's hard because I can't make him use our numbers and I sometimes wonder if the lawyer is working on our side or the trustee's.

[SMinGA]

That should be irrelevant... The trustee gets a % of your DMI and your DMI should be based on your income/expenses. No minimum amount owed to the trustee fees.

Have you gone in and sat down to go over #s or just by phone/email? Maybe an inperson visit where you say 'this is what we need for x, y, z' and be insistent. Its not about what the atty wants, but making the plan work for you.

Thanks so much for the replies. He did not discuss mandatory expenses, just spoke about how the trustee will get mad because she'd be losing money (from the 10% fee). It's hard because I can't make him use our numbers and I sometimes wonder if the lawyer is working on our side or the trustee's.

[momofthree]

The trustee will lose out on a lot more if you have to dismiss or convert your case because the payment isn't manageable on your income & family size. I agree with SM that you should schedule a face-to-face. Maybe print out both the IRS standards, what your current budget allows, and what you feel your amended budget should be so that he can go over point-by-point. It's in everyone's best interest that you be able to complete your plan.