Met with attorney today! :) He is hoping for a 7 :)

[basketsbears]

Hi,

I met with attorney today. He says we are "on the bubble" between a 7 & 13. He is going to do an in depth means test for us before we retain him for $100. He was a straight shooter and really wants us to have us file a 7 not a 13. He is the first attorney that even would consider talking to us about a 7.

Now, my "homework" for weekend is to get all our expenses in order. Some of my questions now that I got home are:

1. I hate to even ask this, but my daughter is getting married next fall. I need to budget $5000 for the wedding. Can I put that in as an expense divided by # of months to wedding?

2. I am changing jobs from a benefited position to a non benefited position. I am going to convert my life insurance to a private term insurance policy. It is 49 cents per $1,000 - I don't have the paper work yet, but should I be able to add that? Also, would want to add some type of disability insurance is that OK too?

3. Anything else that you all have adjusted to increase your expenses in a legit way?

Any other words of wisdom that could help us?

I am so glad to have talked with him today.

He also wants to get it filed by the end of November.
Lynn

[keepsmiling]

Sorry to say, but I'd bet #1 isn't going to fly. You'll have to come up with something else. Disability might be a good idea tho, if you need the expense.
If you put all your income/expenses out here, folks are usually pretty good about tweaking.

[basketsbears]

Hi,

Thanks! I think we will have to wait till december or january as in June I had $1500 extra ($500 bonus and $1100 tuition reimbursement). That increases my income by $250 per month.

We went from best case scenario to worst case scenario with us being in a Ch 13 100% plan. I will be working on this this weekend. My understanding is to look forward on expenses and backwards on income.

I am very stressed. He is pushing for a 7 cuz my income will increase in a couple of years when I finish grad school and am back to full time work.

[HHM]

Kinda hard to suggest expenses in the abstract. What you spend is what you spend.

Anyway, I agree with keepsmiling, #1 is a non-starter; #2 is fine.

[basketsbears]

Thanks! I figured the wedding would be a "no", but sometimes strange things are ok. ;)

I will post our income and expenses. Like i said, we will probably have to wait until January after i realized i had the extra income in June.

Any other suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks!

[HHM]

Don't be overly concerned about "extra" income in the means test if there is an argument that the extra is not likely to recur.

[basketsbears]

Yes the extra was tuition reimbursement and a bonus. I am in the process of changing employers so will not be reimbursed that way. My new employer is going to send tuition directly to the school. Well, maybe we can go ahead and file soon!

If our attorney does think we can do a 7, and the UST thinks we should be a 13, we cannot cram down the auto loan until after 12/25. Would that be a reason to wait until then, or when one files a 7 the attorney is pretty confident that it is a "go"?

Thanks again!

[keepsmiling]

If some savings on the car would be realized, I'd consider waiting til Xmas-- just in case. It's only a few weeks from now. Why did the atty want it done end of Nov?

[mountanddo]

Would tuition reimbursement be income? I mean it's like a wash since you did spend the money on school right?

[ValleYum]

I would wait for the car,too - just in case.

We just had a forum member here whose attorney filed their Chapter 7 only to find out once a POA was received that his attorney's office made a large error in computing his income.

[basketsbears]

Actually, I think he wanted to file this month while my income was low. Although after getting home, I think I would be better to wait until the first part of January. That way my tuition reimbursement and bonus will not even come into play at all. Although, I am due my PTO money since I am changing positions which will be about $950. So I guess it is a draw on when, except for the car. Also, if we do go into a 13 I would rather cram down the car loan.

Also, I believe he said "reaffirm" - not just keep paying, on our house, car and a loan to Aqua which put a water purification in our house. He said that would help us rebuild our credit as those would be outside the bankruptcy, everything else would go. I asked about the hospital I work at and he said I could talk with them and if I wanted to pay it after the bankruptcy was over I could, but I didn't have to.

He also mentioned that the straight-forward BK forms are not hard to do. Since he offered to do the means test for me for $100, I wonder if he would be open to me doing all the "paperwork" and paying him to review, etc. Is that a bad/good idea???

He also wants to file in Northern Indiana where the house is that we are dumping, he is going to call and find out some things from the trustee. He said he feels when we file he will ask for something about satisfaction in full and we would be done with it. He said sometimes the Southern District is not as favorable on that, so he is going to try and get us up north where the UST may be a little more favorable????

Thanks for all the great advice. I felt a little knowledgeable when I spoke with him mainly due to the great people and posts on this board.

[ValleYum]

Oh, basketsbears, PLEASE think and re-think before signing a reaffirmation on your mortgage. It really almost negates your chance for your Fresh Start from the get-go.

If you haven't read this sticky, you may find it informative: http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.ph...-very-bad-idea.

[basketsbears]

I have read that thread, and that is why I posted the question. Perhaps I misunderstood him, but I thought he said that. He was concerned about our credit rating improving in a couple of years, I am not as concerned about my credit at this point as I am in getting everything completed.

He also stated to wait before stopping payment on our credit counseling payments ($870 per month) to make sure that we are going to file a 7. He did say once we decide we are filing we are just throwing the money away. After talking with my husband last night, we know we are going to file either way, so I am going to send them notice to hold payments. I am in the process of setting up my "google voice" which will be a wonderful help!

When I first saw my attorney, once he found out we were in a debt repayment plan, he said well, your credit is already tanked, you need to get rid of this debt and move forward. I wish I would have realized how bad the debt repayment plan would "ding" us and not benefit us. I thought we were doing the right thing a couple of years ago and chose that over a 13 (my income was higher and could not have passed means test).

[Jf24]

Don't be overly concerned about "extra" income in the means test if there is an argument that the extra is not likely to recur.

How is overtime looked at going forward? I got some in the last few months to inflate my income but looking forward it's not guaranteed to be there.