Is this Legit 1 week before filing?

[Moneypenny]

Hi,

Some ideas floated by me about passing the means test. I was wondering if anyone could tell me whether all these ideas are workable, or which ones are and are not.

1. begin making monthly charitable contributions 1 week before filing
2. enroll children in full time daycare 1 week before filing, up from part-time, doubling the expense.
3. get more expensive cell-phone and internet plans one week before filing
4. enroll children in extra math and speech tutoring 1 week before filing

these are all similar in that the expenses are suddenly adopted before filing. Is this something that will be challenged?

MMP

[JRScott]

It is probably something that some trustees might challenge. Especially the charitable giving.

Keep in mind its the average of your expenses generally over the last 6 months. So he could take the 1 week amount and divide by 6 to determine a monthly expense for every one of those.

It just completely depends on the trustee.

[Moneypenny]

i understood that you just report a monthly figure. do they demand reciepts for every one of the six months?

[JRScott]

Once again it depends on the trustee.

The one I had required no receipts.

However if you are borderline median income, over median income and/or high debt then it is very likely you'll need to be able to back up what you claim, I've seen many folks scramble to find such proof when the UST gets involved, so yes it is possible you'll need to back it up.

[HHM]

1. No, to be able to claim a charitable expense, you need to have a pretty good history of doing so. Starting one week before filing won't fly (by history, probably 6 months or more).

2. Incurring a new (large expense) just before filing is kinda dumb in general. You would need to have a good faith basis for doing. Again, without a history, the trustee and Court can see right through these bogus schemes.

3. Again, you are going bankruptcy, incurring new expenses is not a good idea (especially ones like these that can't be easily undone).

4. This one is a not a bad idea, but again, good faith, good faith, good faith. Do your children need it (and if so, why haven't you done it sooner )

To answer your question, yes, all those expenses can be challenged.