Saving money while in Ch. 13

[mwr1ght2002]

I am so worried about going through my chapter 13 !! I am wondering about saving money for a emergency fund while going through ch.13~ Are you allowed to or does the court monitor your bank account? I have thought of buying a small safe just in case~ Thank you in advance on your replies!

[spidge]

You can and of course should save what you can. They will not monitor your bank account, but be sure to check your final court papers to see what you need to report. If you are not paying 100% to creditors then you will have to give up any tax refunds and in some cases bonuses.
Once your case is confirmed most trustees just keep track of your payment history and tax refunds. You would have to have a good size raise for the trustee to request an increase in payment too.
So, again, once confirmed you can save all you want.

[mwr1ght2002]

You can and of course should save what you can. They will not monitor your bank account, but be sure to check your final court papers to see what you need to report. If you are not paying 100% to creditors then you will have to give up any tax refunds and in some cases bonuses.
Once your case is confirmed most trustees just keep track of your payment history and tax refunds. You would have to have a good size raise for the trustee to request an increase in payment too.
So, again, once confirmed you can save all you want.

Thanks for the reply! My plan will be 100% payback. So on the 100% plan you actually get to keep your tax returns, and bonuses?

[Pandora]

Y.... If you are not paying 100% to creditors then you will have to give up any tax refunds and in some cases bonuses. You would have to have a good size raise for the trustee to request an increase in payment too.
So, again, once confirmed you can save all you want.

Hold on a sec...this isnt exactly true (sorry spidge)

It varies by district and trustee as to the requirements of handing over tax refunds; we do not have to provide any refund we get nor any raises we receive.

As to the payment increasing due to raises - that also varies. Again, its a case by case basis depending on trustee and district. We are not required to pay more than our base plan was confirmed at, regardless that it's not 100%. We also have the option to pay off at 36 months vs. the full 60 - even not paying back 100% - because we qualified for 36 months but due to income, had to stretch it out to 60.

Just wanted to provide some clarification

[mwr1ght2002]

Thank you for the clarification Pandora! Sounds to me like there is no real consistency. Each district pretty much makes their own set of rules. : )

[goon]

As stated it varies widely by trustee/district/situation whether you can keep tax refunds/bonuses/pay raises.

But the one thing that I believe is consistent is that you can (and should) put money into savings while in a CH13. A realistic and properly crafted plan should account for some "emergency" costs as well as some "yearly" costs. For example make sure that your plan accounts for and you are putting away (in savings or something) 1/12 of your vehicle registration costs every month, so that when registration comes due you have the money available. But for example you should also have in your budget vehicle maintenance/repairs, and again that should be put into a rainy day fund if not needed in the current month.

Once you are in the plan (ie after filing) they are not going to look at your accounts unless they have a reason to suspect some kind of fraud. There is no problem at all with building up some savings from what you can within the plan (of course if an extra $20k showed up in a savings account in one month or something I am sure there might be some questions...)

[spidge]

Hold on a sec...this isnt exactly true (sorry spidge)

It varies by district and trustee as to the requirements of handing over tax refunds; we do not have to provide any refund we get nor any raises we receive.

As to the payment increasing due to raises - that also varies. Again, its a case by case basis depending on trustee and district. We are not required to pay more than our base plan was confirmed at, regardless that it's not 100%. We also have the option to pay off at 36 months vs. the full 60 - even not paying back 100% - because we qualified for 36 months but due to income, had to stretch it out to 60.

Just wanted to provide some clarification

Thanks for adding that tidbit that I failed to.

How would one know if they were in a district that allows for the payoff after 36 months? Getting a hold of the attorney can be challenging you know.