6 Month Income Look Back - Calendar Months?

[BrokeTwinkie]

So, I plugged our income into a spreadsheet to do some 6 month averages for means test calculations. I just want to confirm, they look at the prior six CALENDAR months, right? So, if we file in anytime March 2013, the income they will look at will be 01 September 2012 through 28 February 2013, correct?

The reason I ask is that, due to paydays falling on the "right" Fridays, my wife will be paid on 01 February 2013, 15 February 2013, and 01 March 2013. Excluding that payday on 01 March (which would normally fall into any other 30/31 day month) allows us to pass the means test for a March 2013 filing, vs having to wait until July 2013 instead, if this is, indeed, how this works.

None of the attorneys have batted an eye, but I thought I'd run this by the community here as well.

Cheers.

[justbroke]

Yes, the lookback is calculated based on the prior 6 months excluding the filing month. I would not try to play with the numbers. You either are or are not over median or qualify for a Chapter 7 discharge. Trust me, the Trustee has his/her OWN spreadhseet and they run the numbers themselves. They understand exactly how to calculate your average monthly income whether you're paid daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, annually, etc. Many people make the simple mistake of taking a weekly salary and multiplying it by 4 to get the monthly income. It's actually about 4.3 and is actually calculated more accurately by multiplying by 52 and dividing by 12.

Remember that you can actually receive a Chapter 7 discharge being over the median if you have the right allowed expenses. While one would be subject to more scrutiny, it's still possible. Do not base your filing on short months! The Trustees know this "game".

Could you receive a Chapter 7 discharge while being over the median? Yes. I am an example, but I was a non-consumer filer.

[Snax]

Agreed. Don't sweat the rolling pay period issue. The USTs have and will routinely make reasonable adjustments for this.