How difficult is it and what is needed to convert a Ch. 13 to a 7?

[sealpup]

We retained an attorney last week and are going to be filing BK in the next couple of months. We are under the median by a couple thousand dollars- may even go down slightly by the time file as I am making less money than I was 6 months ago. Even going through the means test, we still have a min. of -$300 DMI. Hoping to do a 7, but knowing that 13 is not out of the realm of possibilities. We do have mortgage arrears that we need to deal with as well. I found out yesterday that our family will be expanding later this year. The median income for a family of 6 in my county is about $10k more than a family of 5. And of course adds about $200+ in exemptions for food/clothing, etc. If we did end up having to do a 13, could we possibly convert to a 7 after we are a family of 6, based on the aforementioned numbers? Do they just look at your median income and make you go through the means test again to see if you can convert to a 7? What do you have to do to qualify?
Thanks, as always!

[bjh317s]

Sealpup- YES - I had the very same situation. I filed for Ch. 13 in January 2010. This was then converted to a Chapter 7 in November 2010 due to an addition to the family in June and the related loss of my wife's icome as she did not return to work. This was the best thing that we could have done as we were no longer required to pay $900 a month into the plan. We did have to revise the forms to show that we now qualified for the 7 but it was all rather painless. The Chapter 7 process in my opinion is so much easier than in a 13. Now I am on day 25/60 awaiting discharge. Good luck!

[boomerkae]

Sealpup- YES - I had the very same situation. I filed for Ch. 13 in January 2010. This was then converted to a Chapter 7 in November 2010 due to an addition to the family in June and the related loss of my wife's icome as she did not return to work. This was the best thing that we could have done as we were no longer required to pay $900 a month into the plan. We did have to revise the forms to show that we now qualified for the 7 but it was all rather painless. The Chapter 7 process in my opinion is so much easier than in a 13. Now I am on day 25/60 awaiting discharge. Good luck!

THanks for responding to this thread - I'd posted a similiar question with no traffic.

I'm scheduled for my ch13 341 on Feb 3. My husband is no longer working, and will be staying home to take care of the kids. It will take a few months, but without his salary, we will qualify by income at least for the ch 7. Ive been curious how it works and if it's worth it.

[bjh317s]

Ive been curious how it works and if it's worth it.

Defititely worth it. All I had to do was resubmitt the last 6 months of pay stubs as of the date of conversion. My attorney then adjusted the schedules to reduce our income for the loss of the wifes job. I also had additional living expenses with the new baby and we had to reduce the expenses we had previously for day care since the wife is now staying at home. I had to meet with the attorney to sign the adjusted schedules and once he converted us to Ch. 7 (November 12, 2010) we had to attend another 341 meeting, which was on 12/17/10. I received the trustees notice of no distribution on 12/21 and I am currently awaiting discharge. I originally filed for Ch. 13 on 1/10/2010. My wife did not have to file with me because all of our debt was in my name. I did have to include her income though when I originally went the Ch. 13 route. Hope this helps. Good Luck to you.