401K Contributions while in BK

[justplaintired]

We dropped out of the 401K in November of last year hoping this would help pay cc debt, dumb I know, but this was before we accepted the best choice was bk.

Now we would like to contribute again, but should we wait until we file? We have filled out the paperwork and sent it to the attorney, but have not filed yet. We have not signed anything for filing, or reviewed anything, so I am still unsure of our file date.

We only contributed 3% before, but would like to up that to 6% now. Would this attracted attentions we don't want or would the trustee overlook the fact we stopped and started again.

Thanks!

[DivorceRuinedMe]

I would talk to bk attys in your area and see if this is something that would raise eyebrows with the trustees. In my case, I was contributing MORE and then I cut back to only like 1%. I didn't want any inkling of a trustee trying to push me into a 13 so I cut back about a year before I planned to file. If I were you, I wouldn't chance it. It's just not worth it in my opinion to risk being pushed into a 13 b/c a trustee thinks 401K contributions are voluntary and should be considered as disposable income.

[HHM]

Read through this thread first.

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=22637

[justplaintired]

HHM, Thanks for the thread!

Even though we fall under the median income for a family our size (4) by about $30,000 yrly gross income in Indiana, I think it's best to wait until bk is over and then contribute again. DH income last year was slightly over $29,000, so the amount taken out was around $25-$30 a week, not alot, but why mess with something that may cause a problem. Soon as the BK is over, we can start up again. Our total 401K stands at around $16000 right now, and I am glad we never used it to pay down cc, it's bad enough we have a 2nd mortgage trying to pay off cards, we probably should have filed then, instead of using what equity we had in our home. Oh well, live and learn!

[One Half Full]

What if a 401K is your only retirement income? It may be voluntary but it is still retirement income.