Interesting tidbit my lawyer told me.....

[welovedis]

Well I have/had a great lawyer and this site.

And that would have made the difference for us I think. We went with a nice guy lawyer who was recommended by a financial counselor from our church. Nothing wrong with the guy but he could have asked us some more questions about BTs that we did in June/July that possibly brought us to the attention of the UST.

Plus we are $50 + that you so perhaps that is the difference as well.

Either way, we are living with it, just sent in our 1st payment on the plan and they also just sent us our first notification that DH's check will have the pymts start coming out next paycheck. So the way I'm looking at it is 1 month down, 59 to go!!!

[banca rotta]

She said even if you don't pass the means test that doesn't mean you can't qualify for a chapter 7. She said there is a little known rule called special circumstances. You would plead your case in front of a judge or I mean the lawyer would for you. She said that in our case, my dh overtime has gone plus 24 hours a month in base pay. She said that would qualify under special circumstances if we did not pass the means test. We have to finish paying her so I think our income will go down enough to qualify in the next few months but just in case for those of you out there needing to know this might help you.

This is probably only if you had a loss of income and need to file sooner rather then later you show the courts that even though your six months average shows that you can afford a chapter 13 you can plead the case that you have less income looking forward.

If this were the case and you can wait to get the six month average income down that would be the better way.

[banca rotta]

Oh I am not taking any chances. I am going to wait till my income falls low enough. Thank you all for your great advice!

good move!

[kathy4530050]

Good advice BnkrptcyLwyr--I need to know this too.

[TEW]

That's a shame. Seems like the attorney could've nickled and dimed you down to near zero disposable income.

Ok folks ... if disposable income is not below $110, then there is going to be potential problems, and you have to realize that.

Furthermore, if your attorney is padding your expenses, and you are STILL showing disposable income over $110 ... then really, you shouldn't be surprised at a challenge from the UST. And you also shouldn't be blaming the attorney necessarily (you may just need to realize that you very well could end up in a Ch 13 at the end of the day).

Now, that said, if you want to win a chapter 7 motion to dismiss ... then BE PREPARED. Get receipts, know exactly how much you spend, get proof. I've had only one client get challenged so far ... and I had my client get proof of every expense and I sent it all to the UST ... and after we provided all the documentation, the UST withdrew their motion.

Furthermore, if you're in the ballpark like WeLoveDis is, then you may want to look at 401k contributions. What? But you can't deduct 401k contributions? Not necessarily true - and there are good reasons for including 401k contributions where you're close to the fence.

In the motion to dismiss, did you argue that you need about $85/month just for attorney's fees in a typical Ch 13 case (I have actually listed attorney's fees on Sch J just to show that if the UST wants to argue that my client is abusing Ch 7, he better know what the real cost in a Ch 13 is?

Did you deduct bank and atm fees on Sch J? Pet food and vet care? Storage fees? School lunches? Extracurricular activities for the kids? Continuing education classes? Magazine subscriptions? Professional licensing fees? Personal needs of the husband, wife, and kids? Unreimbursed work expenses? About $25 for emergencies/contingencies? Etc. I have deducted all of the above with no objections.

In short, there are so many ways to work the budget and nickel and dime the budget to death ... it's not to hard to get that extra $100-200 out of budget. I have nickled and dimed almost $250 out of my clients budget ON AVERAGE ... often, with not a word from the Trustees.

This is way I think my lawyer was so good. I was so close she said wait I said how long she said she would let me know. While I was waiting she gave me a list of things i needed to have ready just in case. 3 years tax returns 2 years CC statements 2 years bank statements I had everything documented to win if I had to. I am so glad we didn't need to use any of this stuff but what an education i got from it.

[Home1]

I'd to convert from 7 to 13 due to an adversary from the ust. My atty advised that it could be costly to object and then lose. I'd not kept good expense record. Most atty
do a very fine job for their clients given what they had to work with.
I

[BillyRip]

We were over the median, disposable income of $199 mth and we are basically being pushed into a CH 13. Our case was different with a hard a**ed UST on the case from the beginning. I think sometimes it is the luck of the draw of where you live, etc.. And out $199 mth includes OT that DH no longer makes.

Oh, how I wish I had found this site before we filed.

And Citicrooks just got another $25 BIL! Te US Govt. now has a 36% stake in Citi.

Can we say CONFLICT OF INTEREST?

[TEW]

I'd to convert from 7 to 13 due to an adversary from the ust. My atty advised that it could be costly to object and then lose. I'd not kept good expense record. Most atty
do a very fine job for their clients given what they had to work with.
I

and how far over where you?

[Home1]

Hi TEW, It could be argued that I was about $200 over. My atty think it would be better I just go to 13. So far I'm doing okay and able to set aside a few bucks here and there - $50 to 200. I am now planning to cut back on some items to further enhence my savings.

File chp. 7 Dec. '07
Converted to chp. Apr. '08
Confirmed Oct. '08