Medical bills right AFTER filing...

[JEM]

I broke my foot last week. And have been house bound and have too much time to think about "what if" scenarios. Dangerous.

Anyway, this will end up costing us a few hundred out of pocket, between doc visits, ortho visit(s), and at least a few sets of x-rays, the aircast, crutches and *possible* physical therapy, etc...

IF, IF the trustee finds issues with our budget and we need to find more expenses, can we up our medical based on the new expenses I'm having with the broken foot?

[winterheart]

Someone can correct me if I am wrong but..... no you can't. That filing date is the deadline. Any debts incurred after filing date are no able to be made part of the filing.

[JEM]

No, I don't mean include them to be discharged. I mean, say the trustee decides to nit-pick at our expenses to come up with some DMI to fund a 13. (We are just a hair, seriously, like $80, over the median income) Our attorney says our expenses are great, nothing to nit-pick at. BUT, what IF the trustee does...since our medical expenses just went up quite a bit--can we "adjust" our medical category based on this event, if need be?

[RobGee]

No, I don't mean include them to be discharged. I mean, say the trustee decides to nit-pick at our expenses to come up with some DMI to fund a 13. (We are just a hair, seriously, like $80, over the median income) Our attorney says our expenses are great, nothing to nit-pick at. BUT, what IF the trustee does...since our medical expenses just went up quite a bit--can we "adjust" our medical category based on this event, if need be?

That's a good question, the schedule J is forward-looking. You can always amend you schedule if he does nit pick. Most of the time trustees won't tell you to adjust your budget. They may question it. At the meeting of creditors he may ask you if you expect any increase in expenses. He will obviously see you have a broken foot at the meeting of creditors. I would say don't sweat it.

[JEM]

That's a good question, the schedule J is forward-looking. You can always amend you schedule if he does nit pick. Most of the time trustees won't tell you to adjust your budget. They may question it. At the meeting of creditors he may ask you if you expect any increase in expenses. He will obviously see you have a broken foot at the meeting of creditors. I would say don't sweat it.

I told dh since I'll still be on crutches at the 341, maybe the trustee will go easy on us. LOL

[debee]

And if he doesn't you can always swing one around when leaving the table and accidentally hit him.

[free2breathe]

*shameless giggles* That creates a great mental image for me ;) I'm just clumsy enough to pull something like that off and make it very believable! lol

[justbroke]

No, I don't mean include them to be discharged. I mean, say the trustee decides to nit-pick at our expenses to come up with some DMI to fund a 13.

Short answer, no. You can't use speculative expenses. There was a good case in the Middle District of Florida that looked to a person's claim of "potential" adoption expenses, if they were to adopt a child. However, they were speculative and not allowed.

Do not worry about being over the median! It really means nothing but more scrutiny, that's it. It is the Office of the United States Trustee (UST) that looks at the income/expenses. Generally the Panel Trustee, a/k/a the Trustee, just looks at the Estate to see if there is anything to administer (assets).

I don't see how you can adjust it based on this event. However, if this event had left you permanently disabled, that fact could be used as a rebuttal to any Presumption of Abuse, Abuse, or Totality of Circumstances motion for dismissal.

[JEM]

Short answer, no. You can't use speculative expenses. There was a good case in the Middle District of Florida that looked to a person's claim of "potential" adoption expenses, if they were to adopt a child. However, they were speculative and not allowed.

Do not worry about being over the median! It really means nothing but more scrutiny, that's it. It is the Office of the United States Trustee (UST) that looks at the income/expenses. Generally the Panel Trustee, a/k/a the Trustee, just looks at the Estate to see if there is anything to administer (assets).

I don't see how you can adjust it based on this event. However, if this event had left you permanently disabled, that fact could be used as a rebuttal to any Presumption of Abuse, Abuse, or Totality of Circumstances motion for dismissal.

Is it still a speculative expense if we've already incurred it? I meet with the orthopedic doctor on Wednesday to talk about what comes next, so we could be incurring more expenses for awhile.

I was just thinking, medical was one of the areas we went low and conservative in, but could easily prove quite a bit ore is spent, especially with this expense/expenses.

I'll try not to worry about being over the median. The attorney didn't seem concerned. At.all. I guess I shouldn't be. I've just read so many posts lately about posters having trustees that are nit-picking over some crazy things. Has me nervous.