Clarification about expenses amounts and means test for chapter 7

[bufordtannen]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of filing Chapter 7. I'm currently filling out the "expenses" portion. I don't understand how it works and was seeking clarification. From what I've seen in California, if your income falls below the median for your household size (my household income is roughly $72k, median for household my size is over $130k), you pass the means test and can file Chapter 7. Is this correct?

Since I fall under the median income and pass the means test, does that mean I have to still list my monthly expenses? If I have money left over after expenses, does that man I may not qualify for Chapter 7, even though I fall way under median?

Also, for expenses , is the amounts I provide used (the amounts I enter), OR is there some sort of irs/trustee standard allowed amount that is used for everyone, even those under the median income?

For example, my family of 5 spends about $1100 food per month, I've seen in other threads people saying that is way too high. Would I have to use a lower/standard amount set by the irs/trustee or do they use the amount I enter?

I've been looking at so many threads and see that filers are told to look closely at their expenses to bring their disposable income down as close to $0 as possible. Are those people likely doing that because they had to use expenses to bring their income down to under median by using expenses instead of just qualifying under the median naturally?

Thanks for your help.

[justbroke]

Are you filing Pro Se?

Don't generally listen to other people. Use the UST's Means Testing numbers. A family of five should be spending about $1,250+ for food (based on UST Allowances for Food, Clothing and Other items of $2,349/month.

Yes, you do list your monthly income (Schedule I) and expenses (Schedule J). Some debtors have less expense than t he allowance son the Means Test so this is a second test. Think of the Means Test as a bright line test and the Schedule I/J as the real test since it uses actual data.

If you have any assets such as home, vehicles, lots of other expensive items to protect, then please file with an attorney. I don't want you to make any mistakes.