I have been speaking on the phone with a law firm (specialty in bankruptcy 20+ years) and will be meeting with them sometime this week (just gotta confirm date.).
I went over a good amount with him on the basics and such about bk13 and also what I have gathered from this website (thank you al!!). anywho in my profession (Nurse) overtime from my full time job and per diem pay from 2 other hospitals I work have come into play. He confirmed to me pretty much that yes they will take a look at my pay stubs/bank account deposits for the past 6 months to get my average income but here lies the problem. Due to healthcare cuts and hospital closings in my area my average pay has decreased, although I may still get overtime/per diem hours here and there (I have 4 jobs, 1 of those is full time) but cannot be depended on as I once was. So the lawyer advised me to TRY and hold off for about 3 more months from filing BK13 and working just my full time with a little over time/ per diem, so that when and IF I do file bk13 (still contemplating), my crazy overtime/perdiem hours which is my bread and butter would not come into play as much. Then when/if all things are said and done post confirmation/341 hearing, if I may, I can go crazy in OT if I wish, BUT he also did say that unless I am in the 100% repayment plan the trustee may review my income tax returns and request a payment increase if he see's a gain in income. But usually has noticed several times in the past that most 100% payment plans remain unchanged and only do so with the debtors making the request to increase pay or give a lump sum to pay off bk13 faster. Is this accurate to everyone else's experience/understanding? any and all opinions would be appreciated!! I am in the state of NJ btw.
Lastly, I told him we had two cars, a 2004 freelander (paid off) and a 1998 nissan altima (paid off, actually hand me down from mom). the altima has been in a few accidents and needs work every so often, and has 98k miles. He then asked if I think the car will be reliable in the next 5 years if I decide to go bk13, with that in mind I came up with a thought and will present it to him this week in our meeting. Since I may not be planning bk13 (if at all) until probably april/may, and my credit is still somewhat decent. I am planning to donate my altima for a tax credit this year, finance a brand new decent car (thinking civic or volkswagon) and use the extra money I get from the donation along with my income tax return and pay off a good chunk of dept (average yearly returns for the past 2 years have been 8k --2 kids with a mortgage and me filing 0 at jobs) which I hope should look good in the eyes of the court if I were to pursue bk. hopefully I can also pay the car outside of the bk plan since all of my debt is credit cards,loans and some hospital bills totaling about 73k well -MINUS whatever I pay down with my income tax return. any input would be greatly appreciated, sorry for the long post.
Sincerely ray.
I went over a good amount with him on the basics and such about bk13 and also what I have gathered from this website (thank you al!!). anywho in my profession (Nurse) overtime from my full time job and per diem pay from 2 other hospitals I work have come into play. He confirmed to me pretty much that yes they will take a look at my pay stubs/bank account deposits for the past 6 months to get my average income but here lies the problem. Due to healthcare cuts and hospital closings in my area my average pay has decreased, although I may still get overtime/per diem hours here and there (I have 4 jobs, 1 of those is full time) but cannot be depended on as I once was. So the lawyer advised me to TRY and hold off for about 3 more months from filing BK13 and working just my full time with a little over time/ per diem, so that when and IF I do file bk13 (still contemplating), my crazy overtime/perdiem hours which is my bread and butter would not come into play as much. Then when/if all things are said and done post confirmation/341 hearing, if I may, I can go crazy in OT if I wish, BUT he also did say that unless I am in the 100% repayment plan the trustee may review my income tax returns and request a payment increase if he see's a gain in income. But usually has noticed several times in the past that most 100% payment plans remain unchanged and only do so with the debtors making the request to increase pay or give a lump sum to pay off bk13 faster. Is this accurate to everyone else's experience/understanding? any and all opinions would be appreciated!! I am in the state of NJ btw.
Lastly, I told him we had two cars, a 2004 freelander (paid off) and a 1998 nissan altima (paid off, actually hand me down from mom). the altima has been in a few accidents and needs work every so often, and has 98k miles. He then asked if I think the car will be reliable in the next 5 years if I decide to go bk13, with that in mind I came up with a thought and will present it to him this week in our meeting. Since I may not be planning bk13 (if at all) until probably april/may, and my credit is still somewhat decent. I am planning to donate my altima for a tax credit this year, finance a brand new decent car (thinking civic or volkswagon) and use the extra money I get from the donation along with my income tax return and pay off a good chunk of dept (average yearly returns for the past 2 years have been 8k --2 kids with a mortgage and me filing 0 at jobs) which I hope should look good in the eyes of the court if I were to pursue bk. hopefully I can also pay the car outside of the bk plan since all of my debt is credit cards,loans and some hospital bills totaling about 73k well -MINUS whatever I pay down with my income tax return. any input would be greatly appreciated, sorry for the long post.
Sincerely ray.
Comment