Could this be done?

[DYLAN150]

Could someone increase their monthly church tithings for six months or so to qualified for a chapter 7 if they were a little over which put them in a chapter 13? I understand that you can give 15% of your montly income to the church. Also is there a max on a life insurance policy. I just saw two cases where they where giving alot to the church and also life insurance which put them in a chapter 7 instead of a 13. I take it that a person has to have a long record of this? Just wondering?

[jimbo367]

just increase your expenses a little bit on each line item????

[DeadManCrawling]

You are correct, you need a fairly lengthy history of contributions if you want to claim it as a legit expense.

The same logic would apply to other "unusual" spending items like life insurance. I would probably try to make it a bit longer than 6 months. Even 7 might make the difference.

As Jimbo says, you can increase the overall total by taking everything as high as your district allows. Questions for a lawyer, familiar with local standards.

I claimed 1600/month insurance costs and 600 out of pocket, which is very high of course. But those ARE my actual costs and have been for several years. No questions were raised. But others at our 341 were questioned about using one-time medical fees in calculating monthly expenses. One person had averaged out the cost of a 15k surgery as a monthly amount. It was questioned, but I do not know if it was ultimately allowed.