How do we determine how long our Bk plan will last?

[Law50]

Is there a rule of thumb that the attrnys use to determine how many yrs. the chapt 13 is in effect before the discharge? Is it the amount owed to debtors and based on a return of 10 cents on the dollar? I know this must sound like a silly question, ofcourse there is a format but what is it? Has anyone out there created a budget you thought would be acceptable to the court, only to find out it was cut way back? What dollar amount of clothing, food, etc. is acceptable? I understand it probably varies from state to state, anything online or out there to educate us on the quality of life we will be looking at for us in Ca? Thanks all again...and thank you for the encouragment, reality check and support! Oh, and I don't mean to sound so ungrateful towards the many people who shared their encouragment on the Dave Ramsey Forum, it's just that for every word of encouragment there were two words of judgement...so eternally grateful for you guys!

[justbroke]

Is there a rule of thumb that the attrnys use to determine how many yrs. the chapt 13 is in effect before the discharge?

There's no rule of thumb, as it's statutory. It's no less than 3 years if you are under-the-median income. It's no less than 5 years if you're over-the-median. It is also bound to 5 years as the maximum the plan duration can be.

You can be in a plan less then 3 or 5 years, if you are paying your unsecured creditors 100% of their allowed claims.

Don't worry about the percentage you're paying back creditors. It's based on your disposable monthly income (DMI), and that's determined by a complex formula that even the Courts have trouble with. (It's known as the Means Test.)

[BKman]

I'm still learning but I was told that it goes off of how much extra money you have at the end of each month. My attorney told me based off of the means test I have and extra $255 a month so they are going to start with that as my payments for 5 years. I think it also depends on your case and if your mortgage is in your BK. I went to www.legalconsumer.com and put in my zip and how much I earn and it gave me the amounts I can deduct for family costs.