Means test girlfriend/roommate

[rhp]

I thought this was interesting. It was on the the pre-filing counseling site at consumerbankruptcycounseling.info, on the income page.

Enter Information for ALL paychecks received by all members of your household. Your household may include members of your family, boyfriend/girlfriend, but not roommates or other unrelated people.

[oregonpilot]

I thought this was interesting. It was on the the pre-filing counseling site at consumerbankruptcycounseling.info, on the income page.

That is interesting cuz a boyfriend/girlfriend can be a roommate and is an unrelated person.
Lets see....i bet they could make it more confusing if they really tried. LOL

[justbroke]

I thought this was interesting. It was on the the pre-filing counseling site at consumerbankruptcycounseling.info, on the income page.

Enter Information for ALL paychecks received by all members of your household. Your household may include members of your family, boyfriend/girlfriend, but not roommates or other unrelated people.

I wouldn't follow their advice. There is good caselaw in what defines a household member (the "Census" definition) as far as the calculation of the median income. Then there's the definition of a household when it comes to expenses. Boyfriends, girlfriends, fiances and other unlrelated people in your household will never be allowed to be claimed as dependents unless you claim then on yoru taxes, and it's a legitimate (and legal) allowance.

Perfect example is common law marriage. In most States, if a couple lives together in a relationship and acting as husband and wife -- and have put some years in this cohabitation -- they are deemed to be married under common law. The IRS and even the Bankruptcy court will recognize this! However, in a State where it is illegal to cohabitate, such as Florida, that makes it an illegal relationship and therefore, you can't claim them as a dependent! Very interesting caselaw on these subjects!

There was one court, in a Chapter 13 where the size of the household is important for calculating expenses and DMI, that the Judge refused to allow a girlfriend and her children to be used as dependents in a Chapter 13 case. The Judge wrote that it was absurd that the creditors had to suffer because of the lifestyle choices of the debtor (boyfriend), and that he was not legally obligated to care for neither the girlfriend nor the children. Yes, a harsh result, but I don't see any Trustee, unless they are sleeping or the debtor is paying 100% (or maybe 70% or more), allowing a girlfriend/boyfriend to be used in an expense calculation.