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Household size in West Michigan

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    Household size in West Michigan

    When I started contemplating bankruptcy several months ago, one of my big questions was how to calculate household size. I live with a domestic partner who has been largely unemployed in the past year. My research found differing opinions as to whether she had to be considered a dependent as per the IRS definition or whether the "heads on beds" approach applied.

    Local rules mean so much in this process, and I was having trouble identifying what the local standard is in West Michigan. I found it, finally.

    In the Western District of Michigan, it's "heads on beds." The judicial opinion involved is In Re: Smith HG 08-00850, which states:

    Therefore, I am satisfied that “household” as used in Section 1325(b)(4)(ii) means all persons, related or not, who reside in the same housing unit as does the debtor. What that housing unit may be will vary. It could be a single-family home in one case, a duplex unit in another, or an apartment in yet another. Indeed, it could be as small as a single room were the debtor to live in a hotel or a boarding house.

    I agree, then, with the court in In re Ellringer, 370 B.R. 905, 910-11 (Bankr. D. Minn. 2007), in its interpretation of “household.”
    I'm posting this in hopes it helps someone else in my situation at some point in the future, as I bellyached over this one for months.

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