Are we stuck?

[bentbad]

We recently filed, the plan is for $430.00 month but that could well increase when we meet with the trustee and see if he wants' blood.
My question is this, if we go to the meeting and the trustee wants more then we feel like we can afford, can we walk away?
After all there is no debtors prison, except of course your very life becomes a prison with collectors calling.
Looking at these posts it seems common for lawyers to start with a low ball estimate of how much the plan "might" be , but by the time it's all said and done the price has increased. That's just bait and switch. Trouble is when you take the bait and your happy with the low ball estimate, time passes, you quit paying bills, and then by the time the truth rears it's ugly head it may be too late to back out. Mine started as a $300, now $450 , that we can handle, lawyer warn it could be over $600. I can't handle that and if I were told that to begin with I would have run out the door.

[Flamingo]

One thing in your post made me a bit curious - you state "...if we go to the meeting and the trustee wants more then we feel like we can afford, can we walk away?" Well, first, you already filed so the BK will be on your Credit Reports for the next several years and is also public information and, secondly, it is not up to you as to what you can pay, but to the Trustee which is based on all the information he has on your situation.

The lawyer is there to represent you and to get you the best deal possible through the Trustee. The attorney only presents the Plan, he/she does not approve it. The Trustee's job is to give the creditors all that is possible while ensuring you can complete your Chapter 13 in full.

You should question your attorney prior to going to the meeting as to what can occur and tell him/her your fears since it doesn't appear to me things were satisfactorily explained to you. Note sometimes Plans are not increased, but decreased, as ours was.

[MajorMike]

They can't increase a payment if you don't have the money in your budget, remember that. If they do your schedules, etc....you'll be able to see what you can afford to pay. They can't just make up a number to stress you out.