Allowable living expense

[Logan]

I've been doing research on the possibility of being challenged on a chapter 7 due to future income. I will be domiciled in New York which I'm finding to be quite expensive so I'm putting together a case.

The site below show the cost of living allowed for housing and utilities:

http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/20070201/bci_data/housing_charts/irs_housing_charts_NY.htm

The site below shows allowable living expense:

http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/20070201/bci_data/national_expense_standards.htm

Throw in the cost of a car in the city and maybe a few job related items and It's quite expensive to live in NY.

Anyone here dispute my findings?

Thanks,

Loagan

[DeadManCrawling]

one thing:

I don't know how Cost of Living is applied if you have just moved. I imagine it won't matter and you will be able to use the costs for that area.

However, you will be required to use your exemptions based on where you lived PRIOR to New York, or federal guidelines if they are allowable in either NY or your previous state of residence. The flexibility of choosing might be very important to you, so look at all the possibilities carefully.

In Florida, we receive an unlimited homestead exemption, but only ONE THOUSAND dollars for personal property and NO exemption for tools of the trade. While the home exemption is nice, it does not take much to add up to a grand in personal property-at least for me, as a business owner.

best wishes,

-dmc

[Logan]

Deadman,

I have a small 401K, even smaller roth and a little cash that is disappearing quickly so I don't think the exemptions will matter. All I know is if they use my future income they need to use my future expenses.

Logan

Logan

[SinkingFast]

We moved, changing States, in Aug '05. Filed in the new State in Sept '06. So we didn't meet the 2 year residency requirement.

All the attnys we Consulted here told us we had to be residents of the new State 6 months prior to filing. Our attny used our current State of residence for Median Income and costs of living for the Means Test/Schedule J, and the old State's Exemptions on our petition for our property.

Not sure if the 6 month's residency rule applies every where or if it's a local Court rule here. But that's how it all worked for us.

[Logan]

That should work for me. Since I'll be living in New York I would use NY's median Income and cost of living but CA's exemptions. Since my new position is only available in NY, BOS and Miami I can't stay in CA so if they are to apply my new income it would make sense to use the new city.

One interesting note is that I won't be able to afford an apartment right away since I will have no money and I'm wondering what the courts would say about that. I will need 3 or 4 months paycheck to get into an apartment otherwise I'll be sleeping in my car and/or going to Motel 6.

I work in a safety sensitive position so the trustee might be a bit concerned if it came down to that....or maybe not

Logan

[Logan]

Thanks for your help guys, I'm feeling much better. I pulled the allowable expenses from the U.S. Trustee website and New York City allows $4897 in expenses just from the tables. Add another $320 for my large car payment and some work expenses that I can come up with and I have a compelling case if I'm challenged.

I can't believe how expensive it is in New York...wow