Just a few ????'s re: Chapter 13

[inajam37]

Getting ready to file in a few weeks. Just have a couple of questions. It looks like bonuses are figured into the initial payment figuring. My question is do they keep future bonuses? All or a portion? Also, silly question...are you allowed to save back a portion of your income each month for say birthdays and Christmas? Just wondering how all of this works and any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[lrprn]

Welcome to BKForum - glad you found us! I have a few questions for you first, inajam....it will help us help you better....

- Have you met with a bankruptcy lawyer yet?
- How do you know you have to file Ch 13?
- Are you filing alone or with a spouse?
- Are you married? Kids?
- Do you have assets you hope to keep (house, cars)?

My question is do they keep future bonuses? All or a portion?

Depends on the amount of the bonus and your Ch 13 trustee's expectations about what he/she expects you to report to them. If the bonus or bonuses are large enough to increase your income for the year more than 10%, that might trigger your trustee to make a request the court to increase your monthly payment or request to take the bonuses as a lump sum to distribute to your creditors.

Your lawyer should have an idea of how the trustee has handled this situation before in your bk district.

are you allowed to save back a portion of your income each month for say birthdays and Christmas?

First of all, there are no silly questions.

The Ch 13 plan has no line item for savings. However, the personal expenses that your lawyer turns in when you file can include an amount for gifts. How much this is depends on the customs in your district. Or sometimes a bit for gifts is included under entertainment costs.

Once your plan is in place, you do your best to save that designated gift money to collect a nest egg to use for birthdays and Christmas. And if you can find ways to shave little bits off the usually tight Ch 13 budget by (for example) not buying clothes one month, then you can save that money to use for those events too.

However, I hate to be a downer here...but reality is that stuff happens during Ch 13 that is unexpected....doctor bills, car repairs, kids need braces....the list goes on and on. The gift account is often the first to go since these are more important.

There are lots of ways to give memorable gifts that cost very little and still show how much you care. There are a few threads hiding out here in the forum from before last Christmas. Do a search for "Christmas" and see what pops up.

Bottom line is even if you can't save much for gifts, all is not lost

[inajam37]

Thanks for replying so quickly. It's greatly appreciated. We haven't met with an attorney yet, we've been checking out a few to find the right one for us. My wife and I are currently enrolled in a debt resolution plan with debt relief firm. Turns out that the cc companies aren't working with the repayment plan and bankruptcy is our only option to save what we have from garnishment and/or judgements. We make two much money according to everything that we've read that we are going to have to file Chapter 13. We have two children - that's where the worries of Christmas and birthdays come into play. We do have a first and second mortgage and two car payments -- all of these are current. The only payments we are behind on is our credit cards. That's our whole reason for having to file. Any other info would be appreciated and helpful. Thanks again.