UpsideDownMI
03-10-2009, 08:42 PM
Can I access the schedule J of filers in my district? I would like to look up successful cases similar to mine and use those schedule J as a reference to help me determine what expense amounts/categories are considered reasonable in my district. I do have a "rough" schedule J completed. Just want to see how they compare. Your feedback would be great.
You would have to download the entire petition (at 0.8 cents per page) to view the schedule.
Schedule J is a list of "YOUR ACTUAL" expenses, it really does not matter what other people put down. Look at it this way, if the trustee asked you to "prove" the validity of each expense you claimed on schedule J, what would you do? The BK petition is a sworn document, you need to list what YOU ACUTALLY spend.
UpsideDownMI
03-11-2009, 10:56 AM
Thanks for the reply. I am aware that I am to use actual expenses. However, I seen many opinions on the court website where the trustee challenges expenses such as food and clothing as being excessive. So even though I can prove expenses I can be asked to tighten my belt if they deem them as unreasonable. Maybe the trustee would think my food budget for my family of 5 should be 600 instead of my actual expense of 800. That is why I am wondering if I could access those in pacer as it would give me an indicator of where my current expenses stand in the eyes of the trustee.