Chapter 13 plan confirmed

[ruger]

First time on the forum and would like to say hello to everyone. My plan has been confirmed and have been informed that the garnishment will come from my employer and not my wife. Live in VA and work for the state government, Question: Understand the finance department will be notified of the garnishment but will my supervisors be informed. They all love to gossip and this would be quite humiliating!

[LadyInTheRed]

Welcome and congratulations on the confirmation!

If they have any integrity, the people in the finance department won't mention it to your supervisors. But, if they like to gossip, your BK may come up in conversation. You might try talking to the head of the finance department and ask them to do what they can to keep it confidential.

If people find out, hold your head high. You made a business decision to improve your financial situation. That's nothing to be ashamed of.

[IamOld]

Congratulations on your confirmation!

If you work for a large enough agency (and i sounds like you may not be) finance/payroll may be far away...besides, it is a confidential personnel matter, and it isn't...supposed to be discussed, as Ladyinthered very well pointed out! Also, if you're agency is large enough, you won't be the only one with some kind of garnishment! I have a few PT jobs, one is with a very large employer - when you call their payroll, it's press X for this, press Y for direct dep questions, Press Z if you're calling about your (the employee) garnishments, etc. :-)

[keepinitreal]

First time on the forum and would like to say hello to everyone. My plan has been confirmed and have been informed that the garnishment will come from my employer and not my wife. Live in VA and work for the state government, Question: Understand the finance department will be notified of the garnishment but will my supervisors be informed. They all love to gossip and this would be quite humiliating!

Great screen name! I just bought a new Ruger SR40 and am very happy with it!

[ruger]

Thanks for the advice!!! Had to turn over my $4,300 tax return. Will this shorten my plan and should I keep my exemptions the same?

[LadyInTheRed]

Thanks for the advice!!! Had to turn over my $4,300 tax return. Will this shorten my plan and should I keep my exemptions the same?

It would only shorten your plan if you are paying 100% of what you owe to unsecured creditors who filed claims. Check with your attorney to find out if it is okay to change your exemptions. Some districts don't allow it. Your withholding was taken into account when your disposable income was calculated to determine your plan payment. So, your tax refund is additional disposable income that must go towards paying unsecured debt. Changing your withholding only changes when you receive the income. If less is withheld for taxes each month, the trustee will probably still want that extra income.

[ruger]

I"m at 79% but thought my lawyer said that the tax return would shorten the plan. Just noticed they raised my base plan from 72,000 to 76,312 the exact amount of the tax return in the Chapter 13 Data Center Site. Sent the lawyer (fat sob) a e-mail to confirm his statement and he better hope his words of wisdom are correct. My debt is all unsecured and it just seems that the trustee is for the credit card companies. Quite aware that I brought this on myself but at least let a man get out of debt in a hard working honest way. Just mad and spilling off at the mouth but want every dollar to go toward getting done faster.

[LadyInTheRed]

I"m at 79% but thought my lawyer said that the tax return would shorten the plan. Just noticed they raised my base plan from 72,000 to 76,312 the exact amount of the tax return in the Chapter 13 Data Center Site.

The bankruptcy code requires that you commit all of your disposable income to the plan. I'll be very surprised if your plan is shortened unless your refund was more than enough to bring the payment to unsecured creditors up to 100% of allowed claims.

My debt is all unsecured and it just seems that the trustee is for the credit card companies.

It is the trustee's job is to make sure the creditors get all that they are entitled to.

Sorry if your attorney misled you. But, the only way to get out of your Chap 13 early is to pay 100% to your unsecured creditors, any attorney fees included in your plan and trustee fees.

[Kuya]

As for your supervisors finding out about your BK? Probably not.

I too have a gov't job. The payroll department is totally separate and handles these issues. I was discharged on 5/12/2011, and in my entire 5 year plan, nobody ever spoke of it, nor did I ever feel that anyone was aware of it, other than those I opted to share it with.

When it came time for the discharge, I had questions and went to the payroll office. They had so much information and answers for me . . that it was SUPER apparent that I was far from the only one in this boat. You too are very unlikely to be "news worthy" . . . as this is something MANY of your colleagues are also secretly experiencing in one form or another.

You will be surprised if you knew how many people you work with have similar issues (child support, bk, garnishments, etc).

[ruger]

It would only shorten your plan if you are paying 100% of what you owe to unsecured creditors who filed claims. Check with your attorney to find out if it is okay to change your exemptions. Some districts don't allow it. Your withholding was taken into account when your disposable income was calculated to determine your plan payment. So, your tax refund is additional disposable income that must go towards paying unsecured debt. Changing your withholding only changes when you receive the income. If less is withheld for taxes each month, the trustee will probably still want that extra income.

Spoke with the trustee today and you were correct about the tax return. I informed them that I really needed that money for car repairs.... and would have changed my exemptions. They expressed that it would be my best interest to move up to 100% since only half the creditors put claims in. This would make my plan from a 5 to 3 year plan. They are required to notify the creditors one more time to make sure the lawyer did his job. The tustee said they rarely hear back from the creditors. The end result is that I can get out of this program in 28 months.