Means Test - additional income

[Sham11801]

It's been over a year since i've retained an attorney and are finally looking to move forward soon. It's taken this long because of my attorneys recommendation to wait until alot of recent debt usage was 6 months old. He stated it was a complicated case. He wanted to go Ch 13 because my income was over the median and my sister contributes to the mortgage on our primary residence we own together. Our parents live with us so household size is 4 and they have no income. I used the means test wizard posted on here by someone (its the greatest one ive seen for anyone thats used it.. http://www.johnfire.com/meanstest/wizard.php )

My question is when i run my numbers through it, it says presumption of abuse does not arise. My attorney recently reviewed the numbers again and said we can get by with a 7 if we can manage to fail the means test..he said he was having trouble. There aer two issues to this:

1 - My most recent 6 months of income includes 4th Quarter bonuses which have inflated my gross monthly income to $6200 from a regular monthly income of $4600. If we wait till that income falls off in July or Aug, I'd stand a much better chance.
2- 2nd issue is how much of my sisters income is factored into mine under the section "Income from all other sources". I put here the $1588/month she contributes to the mortgage. I pretty much pay everything else. Is this correct? If my attorney is using the same numbers i am, i dont see how i can qualify for a CH 13 since i have no disposable income with all the standard deductions the DOJ gives.

Can anyone shed any light on this? Thanks

[lrprn]

The online website you used says on the first page that going through their determination is no guarantee that the results are accurate and the only way to know for sure is to work with a local bk attorney.

Having said that, about your question (1), from the information you've provided, the best pre-planning you can do if you are close to your state's median income for your family size is to wait for your Jan bonus to drop off your income determination.

Question (2) - When the real Means Test is filled in before filing, your sister's full income is counted into your six-month income determination. However, later in the test, any income that she DOES NOT contribute to the running of your household (in your case, the mortgage payment) will be subtracted back out. At the end, only her contribution to the mortgage will be used to see if you show disposable income or not.

If you haven't done so already, set up free initial consultations with 3-4 bk attorneys in your area. This is especially important if you are close to the income median. Don't depend on an online test to give you accurate results for your local court.

There are inconsistencies in how each local court and even trustees within the same court interpret the bk law and case law. Only an experienced local bk lawyer will know where the court stands on certain gray areas in the bk law that could impact your case.

[DebtStinks]

lrprn, has pretty much answered your question.

But, I am the one that wrote the means test calculator that you are using. It is 100% accurate as far as I know. But it's only as good as the data you put in. Knowing what deductions that you can get away with in your local court is where a good attorney comes into play.

[Sham11801]

lrprn, has pretty much answered your question.

But, I am the one that wrote the means test calculator that you are using. It is 100% accurate as far as I know. But it's only as good as the data you put in. Knowing what deductions that you can get away with in your local court is where a good attorney comes into play.

Debtstinks,

Yes - i sent you a PM regarding your wizard..its great in comparison to the other online versions. I cant seem to figure out where in the calculator it backs out the sisters income portion that is not contributed to the household expenses.

[DebtStinks]

Debtstinks,
I cant seem to figure out where in the calculator it backs out the sisters income portion that is not contributed to the household expenses.

You know I might have left that section off... I think I skipped one part when I was making it since it didn't apply to me. I originally didn't plan to release it for public use. I'll take a look tomorrow and add it in if I can.

[Sham11801]

That would be great DebtStinks. Please let me knwo when you update it so i can check it out! Either a PM or a reply here..thanks