Confusing meeting with lawyer

[kjrmom911]

Hello,

I had a meeting with a 2nd bankruptcy attorney,as we decided to "fire" the first one. That was based on them never calling us back when we had a question and absolutely no timetable on proceedings. Anyways, this one was referred by a trusted friend. Really liked the paralegal we met with at the initial consultation. She drew up a "preliminary plan" based on what we provided her. Came to about 490/month for 60 months. Here is my question, she is basing this off of my husbands last 6 months of profit/loss statements. His business was TERRIBLE these last 6 months. Business will get better (and more income) in the next 6 months (he is in construction industry). I asked her, wont the plan fluctuate or the payments change when he makes more money. She said the trustee will never ask and no one has ever called them up to tell them they are making more money., Umm, seems a little dishonest to me, but maybe thats the way its done in northern ca? She said the trustee will most likely never ask for our tax statements either after we file? Any ideas here? I liked the office, liked that they really seemed on top of things, but this just seemed a little unethical to me.
f

[LadyInTheRed]

My attorney gave me basically the same message: "Once you are confirmed, just make your payments." Depending on the question, that sometimes comes with a wink and a nod. I filed alone, my husband is self-employed and had no income in the 6 months before filing. There were no questions about his potential for income in the future. I got a promotion along with a raise and bonus right after I was confirmed. The raise was only 2% and the bonus was small. I told may attorney about it anyway and he said we didn't need to report it. My mortgage payment went down by about $80 per month in January and the mortgage co sent a notice to my trustee. I heard nothing about it. The trustee does not require that I send copies of tax returns. We may have the same trustee and I get the impression she is too busy to follow up with every Chap 13. It may also help that my means test showed my DMI as -$382.

My attorney has been practicing for 25 years and I trust him. But, I want to protect myself anyway. My plan is to send my attorney an email anytime there is a change to my financial situation and save his response. If there is ever any problem, I'll do whatever I can to hold him accountable.

[momofthree]

I'm in eastern district and was also told by my attorney that increases in income don't matter. They don't request tax returns in my district either.