Confused about live-in GF on BK paperwork

[Dirk Squarejaw]

On my BK paperwork that my lawyer gave me, there is a page that asks for any contributions from live-in GF/BF, relatives, or roomates. My girlfriend is living with me and works part-time while going to college full-time. She has her own bills (car, credit cards), but she does contribute by buying our groceries @ $250-$300/mo. I was reading a thread by bal_ny where someone mentioned in a response that you had to claim only what the other person contributes not their entire income.

So am I thinking about this correctly? If she is added for BK purposes, it would raise my household to 2 but only increase what I could claim as monthly income by $300? I'm over the median as a single filer, but if I were to claim her and just the $300 contribution to the household, I would be well under the 2-person income for Indiana.

[bal_ny]

Dirk, I don't know if it's any different for IN as for NY, but I'll give you an update after tomorrow's lawyer meeting and let you know what he tells me.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Dirk, the post you were reading was authored by me; I had the same situation. I live with family, but am not married to any of them, so it's the same sort of roommate situation. It's actually really hard to find a clear answer on it, too! I had to do some digging.

Basically, you do your means test with a household of ONE, and add *only* the $300 she actually contributes on the means test and on Schedule I. You would also make sure to list the groceries she buys as an expense on Schedule J.

You might want to ask an atty about this, but I don't believe you can legally do a household of two *unless* you also include her income in its totality, not just the actual amount she spends in groceries. I don't have my references handy -- my apologies -- but once you get into increasing the household size, you are also in a place where you have to include the income of the other members. If you go with a household of one (which makes sense in a roommate scenario) then it's just the actual amount the others contribute to the household.

Hope this helps...

[bal_ny]

That is in accord with what my attorney told me today. If we consider ourselves a household of three, SO's entire income has to be counted and that would push us way over the median. Instead, I'm a household of two (myself and my son) with SO paying some of the living expenses as his part of our "deal".

He said the easiest scenario, naturally, is if the trustee doesn't even bring it up. In the 100 or so cases he's done this year, it hasn't been mentioned once (he also said it came up 3 or 4 times total in all of 2007). *If* they question my SO's contribution, I'll tell them the truth... some of the bills, like the electric and DirectTv service, are in his name and his responsibility. I'm responsible for the phone and internet, which are in my name. That helps show that our money is separate and reinforces that we're individuals who happen to live together because we love each other, but don't necessarily financially support each other.