Chapter 7 filing procedure

[ppentz]

I am new to this site and I am in the process of filing for Chapt. 7. Currently making payments to the attorney until he has the required $1500. I was just wondering though how my chances would be given the following information: My income is approx. $4,000 per month. It can very slightly with scant OT. I now live in a lower end motel for $930/ mo. My phone is $160/mo. and SR22 car insurance bond is $150/mo. I no longer have a vehicle due to an at fault accident which I had let my car insurance lapse by 2wks. This happened around last Thanksgiving. As a result I have an outstanding car loan of $14,000 and the damage to property (pole building) has now somehow reached $31,000. I have some related and unrelated medical bills that total around $3,000 and a couple of payday loans that tally around $3,000. There is about to be a court order on the car loan. And I am sure the property damages are headed that way. All of this is mostly due to irresponsible living and going out partying and chasing girls. I have squandered quite a bit of money. I have changed my lifestyle now but just can't handle all this debt at this point ( 59yrs. old). My food and personal necessities seem to be around $1,000/mo. because I have to eat prepared food and do laundry and everything else outside of my living quarters. No stove here at motel. It seems I should have $$ left over but live paycheck to paycheck. My take home is 760/wk, so monthly would be around $3,000. I have no assets really of any value. My payments toward lawyer is around $300 to $400/mo. til I can file. Was just wondering what my "chances" are of getting a discharge. I know there are a lot of variables but with the irresponsible living and spending was wondering what may/could happen. Thankyou.

[justbroke]

Welcome to BKForum!

Generally, you should be able to file and receive a Chapter 7 discharge simply because you are under the median. Normal "allowed" expenses for food, clothing, laundry, and other personal items is about $808/month. Hang in there. I don't see any real issues.


See National Standards and other Allowances (UST) at https://www.justice.gov/ust/means-testing

[ppentz]

Is the median your wages before or after taxes and then I saw somewhere about disposable income. I saw that for Ohio the median income was $43,000 for Chapt 7. I don't know if that is before or after taxes and then something about disposable income so hoping someone might be able to clear that up. Sometimes the attorney is slow to respond

[justbroke]

Median income is before taxes. Be careful of what you read on the Internet or get from an unreliable source. The median income for Ohio, for a single person filing, is $61,617 as of 6/16/2024 (Source: UST Means Testing: Census Bureau Median Family Income by Family Size).

Your income of $4,000/month is well below the median for Ohio (as of 6/16/2024). Even if you were to earn more than the median monthly amount of $5,134.75, you could still qualify for a Chapter 7. Being over-the-median requires you to pass the Means Test. You are nowhere near being over-the-median.

[ppentz]

Thankyou very much, I appreciate your knowledgeable response