Chapter 13 question

[DaisysMom]

Do all Chapter 13's run from 3 to 5 years. Are they ever shorter, like 1 to 2 years? And what do they use to calculate the duration.

D...

[kmb]

Under the new laws, the minimum amount of time in Chp 13 is 36 months, you can't do any less unless you payback 100% of all your debt. The maximum is 60 months.

[optimistic1]

What determines the length of time is whether or not you are above or below the state median income for your state. You would determine that by averaging your previous 6 months worth of total income, if married, include your spouses as well.

If you are below the median, then your plan will be 36 months, only if you have enough disposable income to pay your secured claims, back taxes, arrears, attorney fees, trustee fees. And if you live in a 10% minimum district, then you would be required to pay atleast 10% to unsecured claims (credit cards) in order to get a confirmed plan. If you do not live in a 10% district, then it would be a 36 month, even if you had enough to pay all the secured claims within say 24 months, then the remaining 12 would go to the unsecured claims.

If you don't have enough disposable income to pay those secured claims, then your plan would be anywhere from 36-60 months.

Everyone's case is different, you could qualify for a 36 month plan, but it might go as long as 60 simply based on the calculations.

This is exactly what I am trying to determine right now, but I don't know how to calculate just what exactly the secured claims would be, including the trustee and attorney's fees.

I will have to wait until I can get a lawyer to start crunching some numbers.