Means Test Income Calculation - Living with Boyfriend

[helpmeout72]

Gosh, I have been reading all of your posts and I am desperately in need to help. Here is my situation. My daughter and I currently live with my boyfriend, I am in nursing school full-time and have been unemployed since end of November 2010.

I have huge amounts of debt, foreclosed house, reposed leased car that all stems from before I even met my boyfriend.

My boyfriend currently pays all of the bills, household, utilities...........I drive own of his cars and he pays my cell phone. Essentially nothing is in my name anymore, lost it all.

I went to file BK and my attorney asked for 6 months of his pay stubs, and told me he makes too much money for me to qualify to file BK.

The part I am confused about is I understand his income comes into play but I thought only the portion of my daughter and I's household expenses he pays for? The attorney is figuring with all 4 of us (me, my daughter, his son, and himself) and for Michigan the median income is $5,883.

Because is has been on mandatory overtime for the last six months, and no signs of it letting up anytime soon, he is over the income test.

Shouldn't my attorney only be looking at my boyfriends income with regards to what he contributes to take care of me and my daughter? But, how would I figure out what he contributes to me? Take all of our bills and divide it in 1/2, which is what my daughter and I would need to pay bills?

[lrprn]

Helpmeout, I moved your question here to its own new thread. It's against our forum rules to reopen long-closed threads (your post was on a thread from 2007) because they can contain information that was correct then but may not be correct now. No problem, just wanted to remind you for the future. Now let's get to some answers!

The part I am confused about is I understand his income comes into play but I thought only the portion of my daughter and I's household expenses he pays for? The attorney is figuring with all 4 of us (me, my daughter, his son, and himself) and for Michigan the median income is $5,883. ...
Shouldn't my attorney only be looking at my boyfriends income with regards to what he contributes to take care of me and my daughter?

Before we can help you figure out what's going on, it would help a great deal if you could answer a few questions first:
1. You posted this in the Ch 13 forum - are you planning to file Ch 13?
2. Are you planning to file alone?
3. Are you employed/receiving any income of your own over the last six months?
4. What are *you* contributing to the household every month?
4. Do the two children in the household earn any independent income of their own?

Your attorney should be adding your boyfriend's income to yours on the Means Test, but then *subtract* out all of his income that is not going directly to supporting the household out later on the Means Test. It's not just about how much total income your boyfriend has.

If you are filing alone and you haven't retained this lawyer yet, then you really need to set up at least 2-3 more free initial consultations with experienced bk lawyers in your area. You may get different answers than you've gotten from this one.

[daleintampa]

If ""YOUR"" Wages if any are not in danger of Garnishment. Why File Bankruptcy at all ??? In my opinion, The Only reason to file would be if you have a good Job and you are worried about your creditors garishing your wages. If your Boyfriend is the only one with a Decent income, I wouldn't even consider filing.

On the means test. They consider ALL household income. Overtime or not. Last six months.

[lrprn]

On the means test. They consider ALL household income. Overtime or not. Last six months.

Yes, and then any income that the boyfriend makes that does not go to supporting the household is subtracted back out later on the Means Test.

[helpmeout72]

Hi lrprn,

Here are the answers to your questions....

1. I am planning on filing chapter 7.
2. Yes, I am single, not married, just living with my boyfriend. I will be filing single.
3. Yes I was working up until November 30, so I did have some income, only making $9.00/hr as a CNA, so my income alone would definitely qualify me for the filing BK. The issue is my boyfriend's income.
4. Well, since I did work within the last six months, I did have some money to contribute but it was like $300-$400 per month.
5. No, my daughter is 14 years old, and my boyfriend's son is 16, and not working.

I am so frustrated with this attorney I do not know what my rights are. I met with him initially in May, 2010. At that time, I was working and living with my boyfriend. He only asked for my W2, tax returns etc. Obviously at that time, I was more than eligible to file based on my income, he never asked about my boyfriend.

I had to save up to get the $1300 to file BK, which is why it took me until January 2011 to call the attorney and tell him that I was ready to file. While setting up the appt with his secretary, the conversation turned to me not working and living with my boyfriend. At that time, she told his income would have to be counted and that I needed to bring in his w2 for the last six months.

So, I emailed the information to her before I was scheduled for the appt. I went in for the appt, went over the questions he had. He asked me if I wanted him to do just the $200 analysis or if I wanted to pay the entire $1,300 to file. At this point, they already had all the information, including BF's income.

I told him I was prepared to pay the entire amount so we could actually file the BK. His secretary brought all the papers in for me to sign, he went over every pay with me, asking me questions as necessary. I looked over everything as far as my debts, and it was correct. After being in the office for over 2 hours, at the very last page I was to sign, he looked at the estimate as far as what our income was and noticed that his secretary had not put in the right numbers.

So he disappeared for like 45 minutes, left me sitting in the conference room, and then came back and informed me that my boyfriend made too much income and that I was not eligible to file.

Obvisouly, I was floored and upset, especially after I spent all that time in there. So, then he went back to his secretary, it took her another 3 times to get the numbers in the computer correctly.

He left me with the fact that until my boyfriend stopped his overtime, which was causing him to go over the income for the means test, there was wasn't much he could do. He mentioned he would look into other routes, do some research etc. I was so frustrated and upset, I couldn't even think straight.

When I got home, I realized that his secretary had once again not put in the correct numbers. She had taken 7 months worth of income and dividied it by 6, which made the income look even higher.

So, all of this happened January 15. I have yet to hear a word from him. I called on Jan 15, the day I left, and asked his secretary, since I was unable to file if I could have my money refunded. She said absolutely not, they had already done all of the work??????

So, exasperated and desperate, I started reaching this subject on this board and others, and realized that he is taking all of my BF's income and including it with mine. He never asked what we pay for rent, utilities or anything to figure what income he has contributed to the overall household, he is just counting ALL of his income.

I sent a 7 page letter with case laws and comments from other atty's about this fact to him on Wednesday, March 2, and asked his secretary to have this review this and see if I could file with just showing the income my boyfriend contributes to the household, since he pays all the bills, I figured it out at $2400 a month. His overall income monthly is $6100 (which is the figure he is using in the means test to tell me I am ineligible to file).

I have heard nothing from him. So, today, I emailed his secretary again asking if he had reviewed the information. She replied with "I don't know if he has reviewed it, it would be better if I scheduled a phone conversation with him".

I just don't know what to do...........they basically told me they could file, I paid the entire amount to file, and then at the end of appt, told me I couldn't file............... and I wasn't eligible for a refund of the money at all.

I know for a fact that I am eligible for the $295 file fee back, they never filed...........plus, he obviously never went to court for the trustee's meeting either. He has spent 2 hours with me, total, thats it. Yes, they prepared the paperwork, but I gave them all the income paperwork long before the appt, it's not my fault his secretary can't figure out how to put this in the computer correctly.

I desperately want to file BK, we are holding off our wedding because the atty said it would "complicate things" if I got married first and then tried to file..... which I am beginning to even doubt that.

How do I get my money back? He obviously has no idea what he is doing.

Thanks for any input anyone has.......

[lrprn]

You really have four options in your situation:

1. Work with your current attorney accepting that you are going to have to watch things very closely. You may have to direct your attorney to specific court rulings related to how live-in boyfriend/family member incomes impact the Means Test. You most definitely need to sit down face to face with your lawyer and go over the Ch 7 forms line by line pointing out discrepancies. Do NOT sign anything until what the forms state is accurate for your situation and you receive explanations that you understand.

2. Demand a detailed line-by-line accounting of every single thing this lawyer has done for your case with the costs for line. Sometimes this can help you get some of your filing fee back if the lawyer is honest.

3. Accept that your $1500 is gone and start over by interviewing at least 3-4 new experienced bk lawyers to find one who understands your situation and the bk law better.

4. Because you are currently unemployed, you can choose not do anything for awhile. Your creditors can't get anything from you if you have no income. However, in this case since you want to get married soon, then your current lawyer is right - this most definitely can complicate filing, especially since your boyfriend's income is over the minimum for your state and family size. You probably should finish your Ch 7 filing on your own before marrying if you can.

Sorry that these options probably aren't what you want to hear. But these are your realistic options in this unfortunate situation.

Keep us posted about what you decide to do. And please do post in the Ch 7 forum to get experiences from our members there who found themselves in the same "boyfriend" situation you are in. Good luck!