Currently unemployed, Hope to start working soon - will it affect my ability to file?

[Zeke]

Howdy:

Once again, let me thank you all for your help so far on figuring this out. I'd be lost without you?

Let me preemptively say, that I'm on the cusp of consulting an attorney.... Just scraping together some money, and I'm just now moving into a little CHEAP hovel for the summer.

I have been unemployed since March 2013. I had worked from September 2012 so it was about 6 months. Before that, I was unemplowed from Jan 2012.

Had steady employment for the preceding 12 years or so before that.

So, I'm getting ready to pursue filing BR very shortly.

How does being employed/unemployed affect my filing? I currently pass the means test, but if I was to get a job in my field that could change before too long.

Thanks!!

[keepmine]

Nothing in the bk code requires you to be employed.
Not sure what you're driving at with the question.

[TXskyblue]

No, you will be fine.

[bcohen]

Filing when you are unemployed, but expect to be working again in a few months is actually a very smart and savvy way to time your bankruptcy. It allows you to sail right through the means test, and not have to worry about a trustee trying to push you into a Chapter 13 or go after tax refund proceeds from the current year. It also allows you to save your money once you do start working, which would not be feasible if you live in a state with terrible exemptions. (In such a state, the trustee would demand those funds, making you an "asset case".)

When I filed for Chapter 7 last year, I was an unemployed college student, who only works during the summer months. Therefore, I timed the bankruptcy so that when I filed, I was about 2 months from starting my summer job, and had already received and spent my tax refunds on living expenses. As a result, I was able to avoid losing any funds which I would have needed to live on during the next (2013-2014) school year.

[Zeke]

Right, nothing in the code says I need to be employed. The question is, whether or not being unemployed helps my case. I would not have passed the means test when I had been well employed for a long while..... But I do right now.

I think bcohen has affirmed what I was thinking, that I should file first and once it's in motion, step up my game finding work. I have been trying, but have been looking for jobs in my field which don't really exist here.

Thanks for the info.

Zeke