O No. Filing Tuesday, Raise to be given FRIDAY. !!!!

[CatsInTrouble]

My hubs was informed his raise is finally gong to go thru. What do we do ? What if we are audited? The raise has a back pay associated with it? God, we have been waiting and making things goood to go since November and 2 days away--this happens!!!

[laurannm]

How big of a raise is it? It may not be anything to worry about, unless the raise is significant. We were in the same boat...we filed the day before I was set to receive a 3% raise. It didn't impact our case at all as the trustee never asked us at the 341 about any changes in income.

Have you talked to your attorney?

[Flamingo]

You need to divulge this information to your attorney.

[okiebk09]

Contact your atty. What day are you filing? What day is the raise?

[TEW]

Good idea to tell your attorney. But it shouldn't change anything.

[momof3b1g]

Wow, I thought all companies where not giving raises because of the economy.
That would be good if you weren't filing bk.

[relief13035]

It is so wonderful to hear about raises in the economy. Congratulations!

[CatsInTrouble]

This is weird , but I don't want to tell the attorney. He is so dang HONEST and puts everything out there...has a great relationship with the trustee, boasts that he's NEVER been audited "cause I put everything out there ahead of time."

It's a raise that dates back to "beginning of the year"-- ie, has backpay and all. Doesn't that kind of mean that that backpay was earned in the previous onths, inc. 6 month lookback, and so should be counted? Although, we won't know exact amounts until AFTER filing, soooo .. . .

We were near median.

Yeah, he hasn't had a raise in 2 yrs! It's a very slight raise, I guess it's the backpay I am most worried about.

[CatsInTrouble]

PS Filing Tuesday,
Raise to be signed through this week and seen in Fri's paycheck.

[CatsInTrouble]

WHEW. both raise AND BK filing were pushed back. But I never got a real answer re: my attorney . . . It seems that telling him will mean that the trustee is told, too? My BK 6 month look back is through MARCH, so it's ok to take the raise and won't change any of the paperwork, right?

[lrprn]

But I never got a real answer re: my attorney . . . It seems that telling him will mean that the trustee is told, too?

It is ALWAYS best to give your lawyer ALL of your financial information. Otherwise he/she can't represent you to the best of their ability.

Nothing makes a bk lawyer more upset than to find out at the 341 during the trustee's questioning that you withheld important financial information. And your husband getting a raise before filing or is very important information. Tell your lawyer about it, ok? He/she isn't going to throw you under the bus, but he/she is not going to lie for you either.

My BK 6 month look back is through MARCH, so it's ok to take the raise and won't change any of the paperwork, right?

If you file in April, any extra income in April won't be entered into your calculated median income. However, if your trustee asks during your 341 if your financial circumstances have changed since you filed, if you say no and your husband has received his raise before the 341 and it's already showing up on his paychecks, then you are lying under oath.

You said your husband is getting "a slight raise". Will it raise his salary more than 10%?

If the raise is under 10% and it doesn't push you over the median, it's likely it won't be worth your trustee's time to force you to recalculate your median income to accommodate it. Your lawyer can tell you what to expect in this case.

However, if his raise is over 10% or if the raise he gets does push you over the median, your best option is still to discuss how to handle the situation with your lawyer.