chapter 7, new job, and tithing?

[notalooser]

I'll try to make this short and understandable:

We started tithing in September. We filed chapter 7 on Oct.13 (a Thursday). My husband started a new job the following Monday, making almost double what he was making (He previously owned his own company and was paying himself very, very little. He sold that company (for $500) due to overload of stress, and to just have a "normal" life). Our lawyer had previously told us that he could get a job making as much as he wanted, because the courts went by the 6 previous months of income at your filing date. Well yesterday, the lawyer calls and wants his new paystubs to make sure "there won't be a problem." I faxed them his paystubs, adjusted expenditures and called to ask these question, but of course, the lawyer nor her aide are there today. So now I have to wait until tomorrow, which is really equivalent to forever.

these are my questions:
1.is tithing (10% of our income) going to be considered a valid expense?
2. since our dmi has gone from -$95/month to about $300, can we be forced into a chapter 13 even though we're a no asset case and below the state median? We're tithing about $480/month, so if they say that's not valid, we're looking at dmi of $780.

Thanks for any answers. Our 351 is on 11/29/11. And I already feel like throwing up.

[IamOld]

notaloser - NO you're NOT a loser...I must admit I cannot answer your question - wiser heads than I will, but feeling like you are...that's..."normal." :-)

[justbroke]

1.is tithing (10% of our income) going to be considered a valid expense?

Yes. However, since it is very recent, you may be asked to prove it. You will need actual receipts from the Church (most will easily provide this) or evidence of paying (cancelled checks).

2. since our dmi has gone from -$95/month to about $300, can we be forced into a chapter 13 even though we're a no asset case and below the state median? We're tithing about $480/month, so if they say that's not valid, we're looking at dmi of $780.

This doesn't matter. What matters is what your financial condition was on the day of filing. Just follow your attorney's instructions and let him/her deal with this.

Relax! Please!

[tobee43]

we tithed a considerable amount the very year that we filed our bk. (partially due to our having to leave our home, we donated a large amount to community charities as well as the county and the state). although we have always tithed 10% of our income for over 40 years.

the most important aspect for you is to have validity of those donations, by having receipts, we were never questioned about it, however, we did attach copies of those donations with our petition.