weird stuff from attorney

[hughewil]

I saw a 2nd lawyer today and talked about my situation, and something he said suprised me.

He said he would only need 2 months worth of income statements (paychecks). I asked him I thought it was a 6 month look back and he said no only 2 months if you are below median and doing chapter 7. I then started to talk about the means test and he said you don't have to take a means test if you are below median, I thought you had to take one no matter what.

This lawyer was near my work which is actually a different county from where I live. he then said I should really look at an attorney in my own county who knows the trustees better and gave me a name.

strange all around.

[newbie2]

I saw a 2nd lawyer today and talked about my situation, and something he said suprised me.

He said he would only need 2 months worth of income statements (paychecks). I asked him I thought it was a 6 month look back and he said no only 2 months if you are below median and doing chapter 7. I then started to talk about the means test and he said you don't have to take a means test if you are below median, I thought you had to take one no matter what.

This lawyer was near my work which is actually a different county from where I live. he then said I should really look at an attorney in my own county who knows the trustees better and gave me a name.

strange all around.

The attorney would know how many months of income statements (paychecks) your area BK court will want to see. Just because the median income lookback is 6 months, doesn't necessarily mean that 6 months work of paycheck stubs has to be provided.

If you are under the median you don't have to take the "means test" but you still need to have filled out schedules of expenses (Schedule J). They are not the same thing.

[DebtHater]

Even though my attorney asked for 6 month worth of pay advices, the court required less. Also I did not need to do a means test as I was obviously below the state median.

[SMinGA]

The means test uses the last 6 months to determine over or under median - and if under you don't complete the entire 'test'.

I do find it odd he only wants the last 2 months. Unless you're planning to file in July, using look back of Jan-Jun. When you give him your final June check it will have the 6 month total as "Year to Date" income.

And if your income is fairly regular (does not change in a major way from check to check) I imagine the last few stubs would be enough to know if you're close to median or not.

[HHM]

This is NOT a district by district issue, the means test (in the BK CODE) requires 6 months worth.

[catleg]

He may be thinking that he can annualize the income from 2 months worth of pay stubs, but technically he's really supposed to supply all 6 months of pay history. This being May, that would include any year end bonus received in December/January/February.

If you're on a 2 week pay cycle it helps to be cognizant of which months contain 3 pay cycles and plan around that (try not to include those months in the lookback).

[researchnerd]

My attorney (GA) only asked for 3 months of pay stubs and last year's tax return. I am above the median and filing for Ch13.

[LadyInTheRed]

This lawyer was near my work which is actually a different county from where I live. he then said I should really look at an attorney in my own county who knows the trustees better and gave me a name.

That part is not at all strange. A good attorney will refer a potential client to another attorney if they think the other attorney is a more appropriate choice for one reason or another. Familiarity with the local trustee and practices is a very good reason to recommend another attorney.

[shark66]

I filed "pro se" but the Trustee had only asked for two months' worth of pay stubs...well, I already had all six months printed so I included that pile anyway...

[feelingnutsy]

I was given the following forumula to use in such a calculation------

take your last six months of paychecks and add them up....
then divide by six to get an average....multiply by 12....for the annual number