I'm really confused about this. Hopefully someone here can help me out. My wife and I are current on our house and car and both items have positive equity... but not much. I'm in TX and have been told they can both be exempt. But I have also been told the numbers need to show that we have enough to pay for them once our credit card debt is discharged. At what point in the process will I know if we can keep them? My attorney did a means test but it doesn't include our student loans so the numbers don't really tell the 'real' story. I haven't looked at schedules i & j yet but i'm not sure how i can have such a narrow range for disposable income (<$100) and still have everything match the other schedules... but show i can still afford the house/car payments once the student loans are included. I don't think any attorney will do the schedules until I retain him. I'd hate to pay the money and then learn what i'm getting into is way different than what I expected after the initial consult.
... or maybe I should ask it this way... If i'm not behind, can I exclude something even if I can't pay for it? If I choose to exclude the house/car does that automatically protect them and it doesn't matter what the rest of the numbers say? If it turns out I can't pay for them after BK, will I be able to sell them myself outside of the BK process? Any clarifications greatly appreciated.
... or maybe I should ask it this way... If i'm not behind, can I exclude something even if I can't pay for it? If I choose to exclude the house/car does that automatically protect them and it doesn't matter what the rest of the numbers say? If it turns out I can't pay for them after BK, will I be able to sell them myself outside of the BK process? Any clarifications greatly appreciated.