Advice badly needed/in a panic!!!

[keepsmiling]

Median income for your size family is probably 80K-ish.

http://www.totalbankruptcy.com/chapter-7/requirements/median-income-tables.aspx

You should be in a 3 year plan if 6K is your gross.
Could be you have to wait a few months for 6 month lookback to drop.

[keepsmiling]

He sounds very lazy. His JOB is to negotiate.

[sheilaE]

Get this-A 3 yr plan had our payment being at $2702.62
Here's the thing though...he had our means test in front of him, so all the figures were going off that. How is another attorney going to come up with a better plan? Won't our means test have the same awful numbers no matter how many attorney's we consult with...are we just wasting our time? It's absolutely emotionally draining, but I'm trying to stay positive and make for a happy Christmas for our kids sake. They don't need to see Mom crying.

[LadyInTheRed]

I agree! Our atty told us awhile back that he likes to go in to court with everything set and get confirmed. Maybe that should have been a sign that he wasn't going to fight for us?

Maybe. It's one thing to want to be realistic and submit a plan that is confirmable. But, that doesn't mean you roll over at the beginning and give the trustee everything he may insist on. I think you need to consult with more attorneys.

But, don't be suprised if other attorneys agree on some of his points.

Budgetting for a family of 5 for the entire 5 years when two of your children are adults may not fly. But, it seems you should at least be able to budget for 3. That food budget is for a family of 2.

Be prepared to be told that your adult children should at least pay for their own cell phones and cars. I'm no sure you will be able to justify a cell phone for 14 year old either.

I agree with your attorney that $250 for internet and cable is high. You may have make do without premium channels and/or with a lower connection speed.

School lunches should be included in your food budget.

My husband is unemployed and my schedule J included expenses for 2 cars. And we don't have a kid to drive to school. He doesn't drive very much. But, we own two cars and they must be maintained, registered and insured.

In any case, that payment seems really high based the information you have given and assuming you are not keeping non-exempt assets or have priority debt that needs to get paid.

[dmc-2008]

Bk 13 not supposed to be punishment! Trustees arent gods! Why does it feel like they want it to fail out the gate???? Ugh

[pamkev]

I agree with others you need to talk to another lawyer.

[dmc-2008]

I just looked at www.irs.com and the national standard for food for fam of 4 is 765.00! Go to that site and look at all the standards for allowed expenses!!!

[sheilaE]

Yes, we knew we would be cutting the cable and phone bills, but didn't want to do it prior to filing because figured the trustee would fight it no matter what it was, so we thought we'd go in high and work it down from there.

The 14yr old doesn't have a cell phone. He has autism and would never even use a phone. Our two older children are full time students with day/night classes...they had p/t summer jobs, but those had to end once school started back up. We are very lucky in that they don't ask for anything at all--they know money is super tight. They car pool to school. Our daughter is the only one driving. Our son is not driving because we can not afford to add him to our insurance. Auto insurance for boys is crazy. He doesn't ask to drive-he's A-okay being car pooled by his sister.

Thank you DMC-2008 for the link..I will check it out. And thank you EVERYONE for your encouraging words!

[momofthree]

FIND A DIFFERENT ATTORNEY AND FAST!!!!! Yes, I'm screaming it. This guy is full of crap. While I understand about cable and cell phones and such, not allowing home/car maintenance, gasoline expenses, or sufficient medical is scandalous. He is fighting for the tt when he should be fighting for you! RUN!

[sheilaE]

momofthree-thank you for the smile, lol. And I want to run, but I wish I knew who to run to that will be on our side. I wish I could post on facebook-anyone know of a great BK-13 atty who will fight hard for our expenses? I mean, it's just not something people talk about....we have that another counsel on Thursday, but what if he's exactly the same way as our current atty?

On another note-we have NO MONEY to give another atty. We used a tax refund to pay our atty and he worked with us for 2 years, so I highly doubt we will get a refund of any amount. We will now need to have the entire amount put into our plan-so if that's going to be a problem, then we are doomed even more then we already were.

[keepsmiling]

Get this-A 3 yr plan had our payment being at $2702.62
.

THIS MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER.
Unless it is for secured debt, priority debt, or non exempt assets. That's why I say, some info is missing.
Even if it's based on your kids growing up, there should be a step plan.
Your payment is based on DMI. Sounds like he thinks you have to pay a certain percent of unsecured. In some districts there is a minimum, but it shouldn't be as high as yours.
You might want to go talk to this guy and tell him what you've learned here and either get him to work WITH you or give you a refund. What exactly has he done that he's worked with you for two years?

[keepsmiling]

Again, to clarify:
When did dh retire?
If it just happened, you may need to wait for the income to drop off.
Perhaps the proposed plan is based on pre retirement income?
and, yet again.... that 3 and 5 yr thing just doesn't add up for unsecured debts.
It's a head scratcher unless he isn't telling you something.

[sheilaE]

He retired in May. We are keeping 3 older vehicles...they aren't sport cars or anything fancy. A 06 Nissan, a 2008 Chevy and an 2002 Ford SUV. That is it. We have no vacation home or time shares. When I asked why we were having to pay anything to unsecured, he said becuz we have over $222,000 in debt. I said I realize that, but why r we having to pay it back and he said becuz we have too much DMI.

He also said-this is a great plan, and that he has clients who'd kill for this plan. What the??? Like who??? And...he said if we were unhappy with the plan then we should think about picking up some contract work. I'm guessing he means get paid under the table. We have no special skills, so I have no clue as to what we could do.

[dmc-2008]

Omg that totally galls me! My law office assistant told me when my daughter gets a work permit I should make her work! Really? Now my kid has to pay for my mistake? How unapprop is that anyway? We are looking for relief not a hand out and we are paying dearly in other ways! These lawyers and trustees are .....

[keepsmiling]

Your debt amount is not extraordinary. It less than a third of what it could be in a 13..
Again, your plan is supposed to be based on DMI, not on a percentage he thinks you should pay.
Since he is quoting you percentages regardless of length of payback time, something is seriously flawed in his thinking.
Are you sure he's actually done some bk work before? and how much have you paid him?