The Fundamental Chapter 13 Pre-Filing Concern..

[kornellred]

...is - of course - how much is it going to cost me to get out of debt?

As I await my 2/28 pre-filing consultation with my attorney where we discuss the proposal to be made to the trustee, I hearken back to the initial consultation where he explained, in a very nonchalant manner, that "we will offer them 2 or 3 hundred dollars per month" and in 5 years, it's all over. Please notice that he actually said "offer".

Now, in all truth, I could easily afford to pay a thousand dollars per month and still live the way I am living now. And my mandatory living expenditures will bear this out - I can't produce receipts for money I have not spent. Yet my attorney insists that I will not be paying anywhere near that much when all is said and done. The BK game is red-hot in New Jersey and business is booming. Trustees routinely object to initial proposals around these parts. As a matter of fact, I was told that it is pretty much standard practice to fashion a proposal that will guarantee an objection by the trustee. This buys time to develop the arguments for allowing exemptions which are deliberately open-ended as far as amounts are concerned. Attorneys know what will work and what will not - I cannot imagine anyone trying to pull a Chapter 13 off "pro se" - at least not around here. Plugging in the numbers and doing the math will not forecast the eventual payment amount.

It's not so much fun as it is interesting, to be sure. I'll be sure to post the results of my case as time goes by.

[EveryDayAdam]

wow...sounds interesting in NJ...

I do remember hearing from my BK trustee during his announcements during our 341 that he has never seen one successful Pro Se filer in all the umteen years he's been doing it...

I know my attorney was worth every single penny I paid...I paid him about $2500, but he has saved me about $48,000 in payments over the 60 months from the figure I calculated on my own.

I guess the biggest thing, _ESPECIALLY_ in a chapter 13, is to get an attorney and definitely go through the process enough with each of them to get a rough number on the payment...I'd especially go with an attorney or law office that does nothing BUT BKs...the experience is worth the extra money.

[aa06a47]

...is - of course - how much is it going to cost me to get out of debt?

As I await my 2/28 pre-filing consultation with my attorney where we discuss the proposal to be made to the trustee, I hearken back to the initial consultation where he explained, in a very nonchalant manner, that "we will offer them 2 or 3 hundred dollars per month" and in 5 years, it's all over. Please notice that he actually said "offer".

Now, in all truth, I could easily afford to pay a thousand dollars per month and still live the way I am living now. And my mandatory living expenditures will bear this out - I can't produce receipts for money I have not spent. Yet my attorney insists that I will not be paying anywhere near that much when all is said and done. The BK game is red-hot in New Jersey and business is booming. Trustees routinely object to initial proposals around these parts. As a matter of fact, I was told that it is pretty much standard practice to fashion a proposal that will guarantee an objection by the trustee. This buys time to develop the arguments for allowing exemptions which are deliberately open-ended as far as amounts are concerned. Attorneys know what will work and what will not - I cannot imagine anyone trying to pull a Chapter 13 off "pro se" - at least not around here. Plugging in the numbers and doing the math will not forecast the eventual payment amount.

It's not so much fun as it is interesting, to be sure. I'll be sure to post the results of my case as time goes by.

I thought the same as you when the attorney told me the amount I would be paying for 60 months. Even after it rose a couple of time before being confirmed, my thought was...this will be easy. What I had not figured in my calculations is the amount of money I was charging to credit cards and not really realizing how much I was spending. The payment may seem low, but be careful, you may not be in good of shape as you think.