Plan payment...proposed versus confirmed questions...

[8forme]

We filed Ch13 mid-Sept, had 341 mid Oct (We are in a 5 year plan). Literally it was 2 minutes at most. Trustee said our paperwork looked good and our attorney did a good job, asked if we still had 8 dependents and that was it. I have read a few posts about the payment going up after confirmation. Will we get a notice or anything that they are contesting our expenses or does it just show in the confirmation if it goes up?

Our expenses are high BUT we are a family of 10. The attorney said nothing in our budget looked out of line with that and the trustee did not say anything at the 341. I am kind of nervous that we will be hit with a higher payment. Now we are quite comfortable and able to save a bit, actually we have more in our savings account than we have had it years. We literally had $0 in savings for I don't remember how long. Now we have a good start to an emergency fund.

[IamOld]

Bforme - if the Trustee has any objections to your confirmation he/she will have to file a notice to that effect BEFORE the date set for your confirmation. What is your confirmation date set for?

I hate to walk out on a limb :-) But I do believe you would have heard something from the Trustee if the #'s were wrong...if all is well, you will not have to attend confirmation at all.

Have you checked PACER?

[8forme]

Confirmation has been changed a few times, rescheduled by courts. Now it is set for Dec. 12. I was hoping it would be the norm to let us know and prove expenses if they tried to lower some expenses and raise our plan payment. I just did not want to be blindsided and get our confirmation with a higher payment. I am just getting nervous, I think. Though I already feel tons better, a huge weight has been lifted and I know we can do it with no problem as long as our payment stays what it is now.

ETA: I have not checked PACER, what is it and how can I check it.

[IamOld]

PACER is electronic access to court records - (I am a PACER-holic) there is a STICKY on how to enroll - also if you go to your district's BK court website it'll be a link under ECF or some such thing...
The Trustee has to object to your plan and ask for a higher payment amount - without that, on confirmation day the plan as it is "sitting" out there is confirmed.

[8forme]

The Trustee has to object to your plan and ask for a higher payment amount - without that, on confirmation day the plan as it is "sitting" out there is confirmed.

If he does object, do we get informed and have a chance to confirm expenses, or just the judge? It won't come out of nowhere, right? We homeschool and put in our homeschool expenses for books/curriculum for 5 in school. But, there was nowhere to indicate it was for homeschooling and not just made up educational expenses. It just said educational expenses. It was about $200/month. (We keep all receipts.)

[IamOld]

If he does object, do we get informed and have a chance to confirm expenses, or just the judge? It won't come out of nowhere, right? We homeschool and put in our homeschool expenses for books/curriculum for 5 in school. But, there was nowhere to indicate it was for homeschooling and not just made up educational expenses. It just said educational expenses. It was about $200/month. (We keep all receipts.)

If Trustee files an objection you and your atty are notified - you'll hear from teh atty before (you should...) you get the objection in the mail...

IF IF that happens then your atty and the Trustee will try to work out a compromise; if they can't, then it is up to the judge.

BUT there are times when a good atty knows exactly what the Trustee etc are looking for and plans are approved first hand.

My spouse's 13 plan was approved ONE DAY ahead of schedule...of course I was (and am) a basketcase!

[8forme]

BUT there are times when a good atty knows exactly what the Trustee etc are looking for and plans are approved first hand.

Our attorney is very experienced with BK and knows what the Trustees are looking for/at very well. We shopped around quite a bit before hiring this firm. So hopefully it will be confirmed as is!