Over median income, is it still possible to file Ch 7?

[teresa]

Just had a phone consultation with a different attorney, and he asked me why I thought I had to go Ch 13. I told him that I was over the median income, and I thought that that was the yardstick. He told me there are other "tests" that might bring me to a Ch 7. If so, I'm really excited about that! Has anyone else been able to go Ch 7 when they originally thought it would go 13?
Thanks

[DivorceRuinedMe]

There are people that do this all the time although the trustee can file the presumption of abuse in this case (meaning you are over the median). It's up to you to take the "means test" and prove that you qualify for a 7 which essentially states that the presumption of abuse does not arise. It can be done and there are members here who are doing it. Hopefully they will chime in and give you their stories.

[ohwell]

We are over the median. We are able to use our mortgage to help us pass the means test, the secured debt was the only way to give us negative numbers. With the BK law, its possible to do that even if you may surrender the home. I am still crossing my fingers, but we had our 341 yesterday and the trustee didn't raise any eyebrows. We had a drastic drop in income and were living within our means last year, but now this year everything unraveled, so we had no other choice but to file, surrender our home, one car. We do not have any disposable income due to just the one income in the home and we are a family of 4(were a family of 3 last year).

The only thing the trustee asked was about our tax refund this year we got, but it was all applied to tax debt we had - and still have(didn't pay off the balance, and over 10k due) - so she didn't inquire for our return for next year - won't be seeing a refund most likely due to our income changes(we had alot of medical deductions as well last year) and will still be paying the IRS on the payment plan.

Our income went down by 60%, so it was a huge drop.

[Beach Bum]

Yes. If you are below the median that simply means that you don't need to take the means test, if you are above, you do.
Just like Ohwell we were able to use our mortgage to pass the test. It's kind of crazy, but that's how it works.
So if you make buko bucks and you own a multi-million dollar house you could still possibly file a ch. 7. It's a little more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it.

[ohwell]

Beach - congrats on your discharge!!

I am still crossing my fingers on that whole using the house for the means... Your situation sure gives me hope!

[dumbdumb]

I was over the median and am now awaiting disharge for chapter 7.. it was a bit of a fight but if you show that your actual expenses leave you little money left over they you should be ok. i am not sure of the amount like a $112 or something after all your expenses are paid.

[ohwell]

dumbdumb, we were negative in our expense schedule, not sure if the us trustee will allow us to reaffirm our vehicle
Our income right now is over the median, and we are scraping by without any debt to pay except the car, nothing left over at all.

If they try to not allow the car, we'd have money left over, but then it would make us even according to the food expense we were allowed by the atty. right now its not doable the way it is on paper, but the atty wanted us negative for the trustee to prove how bad off we are.

Keeping my fingers crossed for both of us! hope you get yours all figured out soon!!

[leftyf]

I make well over the median ($12K), but of course, there is less than nothing left every month. I am trying for a 7...my attorney is worried that I will have to give up a car ( Ford Focus, not a "beemer") because I can't seem to balance my budget. Right now I am working on the bigger issue than filing bk...I am trying to balance the budget and I haven't even been paying on my $100K in debt. Until I can do that, I'm not even sure I should bother filing unless a judgement is looming. Anyway, I have retained an attorney and I hope to file next month. I've been looking at our spending very closely, and I'm not finding too much excess...you can always find something though. Just relaying what I'm going through in case you can relate.
Lefty