Future income and Chap. 7?

[maxcat]

My Ch. 7 was filed a couple of weeks ago, and my meeting of creditors is scheduled for April 19. My lawyer stated that since I own nothing and the means test revealed that there's no way I can possibly pay my credit card debt, it should be a slam dunk. My concern is this: yesterday I was offered a one year job appointment (in academia) that pays more than double my current income. Can this affect my BK case? Can the creditors come after future income? Will I be asked about future income during the proceedings? Should I refrain from signing my one year contract until after the hearing, and my debts are presumably discharged? Am I committing fraud if I neglect to mention the change in future income to my lawyer? PLEASE HELP! I don't know what the heck to do here, and I have to respond to the job offer with a completed application form soon. Should I delay doing so? Thank you!!!

[FilingOnMyOwn]

Mention nothing about it. At the 341, you may be asked if you anticipate any increases in income within the next year. To this you may answer no, as future opportunities are not guaranteed. Don't submit your application until after the 341. If you do it before, then you will have to be honest about it at your 341 and you could be forced into a chapter 13. And you DON'T want that.

[maxcat]

Thanks. Is the 341 the meeting of creditors?

[Anassa613]

Yes it is

[LostOne0069]

Your best bet is to talk with your attorney about it. Nothing is going to piss him/her off more than to have this come up at the 341 and he/she wasn't told about it ahead of time.

If you knew about the job (which you do) before going to the 341 and then tell the trustee that you have no prospects for better income... you can be charged with fraud. Yes, it's unlikly that they'd find out... but if they do, you run the risk of #1, your bk getting dismissed and #2. being charged with bk fraud and getting fined or even jail time.

Remember, getting 2x the salary does NOT mean 2x the take home... taxes go up, etc. etc. Your attorney may look at it and say, "no big deal, you're still under the median" or they may not.

I'm not trying to preach, but I've found that trying to be as honest as possible in life really does pay off in the long run. Note here that I'm not saying go to your 341 and volunteer this information... I'm saying talk to your attorney about it and get advice on it. They may give you the same advice as you've received here, they may not.

Good luck! and congrats on the new job offer!

[maxcat]

Thank you. The job is going to involve moving (and those expenses), and my rent will double too, so it may not affect my "means" at all. I don't want to go through all of that and wind up in the clink for fraud.

[FilingOnMyOwn]

The thing is, you don't officially 'know' about the job until you get it. So thats why you wait until after your meeting of creditors to apply.

[SinkingFast]

Thank you. The job is going to involve moving (and those expenses), and my rent will double too, so it may not affect my "means" at all. I don't want to go through all of that and wind up in the clink for fraud.

Personally, I wouldn't tell your attny about this offer. You have the offer, you are considering it at this point. Under the New Law, attnys cannot offer financial advice. If you tell the attny about the job, the attny won't be able to advise you what to do anyway. Plus, attnys are officers of the Court. You can't stand there at the 341 and say, "No. I don't have any anticipated future increases in income." and expect your attny to sit on their hands. The attny is bound by Code to tell.

Call the employer and buy some time. Tell them you are having some personal family difficulties right now and ask their indulgence for you to take a little longer to get back to them with your response. Feel out their situation. They'll tell you if they can afford to wait or if they'd rather move on to other candidates.

If you can buy some time, then proceed thru your current BK, without accepting the offer, as if nothing at all has changed. Set up with the new employer to start your employment after your anticipated Discharge date.

If you can't buy time, and you really want the job, then tell your attny what's going on. Get all the info regarding changes in costs of living so you have your arguements prepared in advance. "Yes, the income offer sounds like it's double what I currently make, but in reality, it's gonna cost me double for this, that, and the other to live there. Plus the additional expenses for househunting and moving." You can also access the IRS schedules for costs allowed in filing BK to show for comparison.

The New Law requires you file where you live. If the new job is gonna take you to another state where things cost more, then that should be considered as well.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for being honest. But I've had times in my life when I told the whole truth only to get penalized for it. Where I would have been far better off if I had simply told the truth without telling everything. If you follow my drift.

[maxcat]

Thanks for the input. I spoke to my lawyer about it, explaining that I may have higher paying employment in September, and he said it makes no difference at this point because I have no guarantee that I'll get the job. He's right because, for some reason, they require an extensive financial background check before hiring. In some weird way, my lousy credit is working to my advantage here because, technically, it may cost me the job. At least that's the way the lawyer is interpreting it. Nothing is guaranteed at this point. I won't submit the signed contract until after the 341, and then I'll let the chips fall where they may and hope I get the job.
Since I'm the plaintiff in a BIG lawsuit (personal injury), my lawyer says the trustee won't go out of his way to prevent my debts from being discharged because he'll get a percentage for paying my creditors if the suit is settled or I win it in trial. Does anyone know what percentage the trustee is entitled to in this situation if I get anything from the lawsuit?

[SinkingFast]

WTG, Max!! Your attny sounds like a sharp tack!!

As for the %'age, that varies according to where you live. It's by State and BK District. I don't know how it's figured for Ch 7 Trustees, but you can find Ch 13 at the DOJ website. Our's is 8.8% for Ch 13 here.

http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/

You can check out yours at that link. Click on the Means Test and you can access the Admin Fees. Scroll down the first page to Administrative Expenses Multiplier. That should give you a guesstimate of what to expect.

[maxcat]

Thank you sinkingfast. In my state it says 10% for 13, so I guess it's comparable to that. Now i know why my lawyer thinks it's a slam dunk. The trustee is probably just going to push it through, salivating over the prospect of getting that 10 or so %. As far as i'm concerned, all these damn lawyers, banks, and most of the govt in general are just leeches and thieves. Why are there so many decent people in this predicament? I blame the aforementioned and the rotten system they're all feeding off of. Thanks again.