CH7 vs CH13

[redemption]

Well, I plan on filing this Tuesday. I talked to my lawyer and she said it's looking like I will have to file CH13 because of my income. I live in FL and she said the cutoff for CH 7 is a little over 49K. Now this is where I get confused. I am currently on active duty with the Navy and according to my end of year paystub I made over 57K, but my W-2 says I only made over 39K. The reason for the difference is because I get housing and food allowances that are non-taxable. Also, I have not lived in FL for two years. Previous state was Missouri. She told me the only thing that would apply from Missouri is the exemptions, not my income. Is that true? So will I be looking forward to CH13 or CH7? TIA!

[HHM]

Honestly, it sounds like everything your lawyer has told you is true. Simply because income is non-taxable, does not mean it is not income for BK purpose. I would imagine the BAQ and BAS are income for BK purposes.

[redemption]

So is there even a point of me asking her about the means test? Also I got an account for PACER. How do I look up my lawyer on that?

[keepmine]

Don't know if it makes any difference to you but, median income figures were updated for cases filed as of Feb.1st.
Mods, you may want to pin this somewhere.

http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/20070201/bci_data/median_income_table.htm

Testing >> Means Testing (Cases Filed On and After February 1, 2007) >> Census Bureau Median Family Income By Family Size

Census Bureau Median Family Income By Family Size
(Cases Filed On and After February 1, 2007)
The following table provides median family income data reproduced in a format designed for ease of use in completing Bankruptcy Forms B22A and B22C.

The State Median Family Income by Family Size data is available for download in MS Excel format. [XLS - 20 kb]



. FAMILY SIZE
STATE 1 EARNER 2 PEOPLE 3 PEOPLE 4 PEOPLE *

Alabama $33,709 $43,205 $48,007 $55,424
Alaska $47,538 $62,953 $70,239 $79,033
Arizona $38,703 $50,201 $53,241 $63,076
Arkansas $31,788 $40,738 $45,242 $53,904
California $44,499 $59,086 $64,118 $72,996
Colorado $42,886 $60,782 $63,609 $72,571
Connecticut $53,553 $65,930 $78,828 $95,183
Delaware $46,641 $59,238 $65,373 $78,752
District of Columbia $36,491 $55,427 $56,392 $56,392
Florida $37,985 $46,914 $52,648 $64,280
Georgia $37,588 $50,376 $55,293 $66,508
Hawaii $46,769 $55,005 $69,733 $81,799
Idaho $36,025 $47,056 $50,453 $54,165
Illinois $42,995 $54,599 $64,184 $74,705
Indiana $38,765 $48,841 $57,289 $66,649
Iowa $37,265 $50,432 $58,764 $67,693
Kansas $37,814 $50,244 $55,862 $67,026
Kentucky $33,701 $41,560 $50,772 $56,768
Louisiana $33,001 $40,565 $48,596 $57,752
Maine $36,853 $47,228 $60,054 $66,899
Maryland $50,509 $65,820 $78,211 $92,502
Massachusetts $51,543 $60,368 $75,099 $88,179
Michigan $42,596 $50,665 $61,052 $73,853
Minnesota $44,147 $57,125 $70,908 $79,895
Mississippi $29,299 $38,143 $42,964 $49,268
Missouri $36,567 $46,246 $56,248 $65,909
Montana $32,789 $46,005 $50,307 $57,438
Nebraska $37,305 $50,374 $58,832 $66,893
Nevada $40,682 $55,585 $57,303 $63,772
New Hampshire $47,081 $57,089 $72,867 $84,155
New Jersey $53,557 $63,357 $80,239 $93,176
New Mexico $32,695 $44,498 $44,498 $49,781
New York $42,896 $51,994 $62,815 $74,501
North Carolina $34,339 $46,066 $52,160 $61,402
North Dakota $38,146 $48,555 $58,684 $61,862
Ohio $39,746 $47,874 $58,475 $68,890
Oklahoma $34,072 $43,327 $48,423 $54,854
Oregon $41,458 $50,455 $55,104 $63,946
Pennsylvania $41,706 $48,612 $62,168 $70,863
Rhode Island $43,805 $56,605 $67,787 $80,826
South Carolina $33,147 $45,063 $49,846 $59,803
South Dakota $31,605 $45,741 $56,685 $63,289
Tennessee $34,670 $43,487 $52,380 $58,711
Texas $34,418 $48,849 $51,678 $59,369
Utah $42,244 $49,107 $54,948 $59,872
Vermont $39,651 $52,008 $65,812 $73,688
Virginia $46,601 $58,815 $69,692 $79,931
Washington $45,516 $56,126 $60,597 $74,432
West Virginia $34,607 $38,704 $47,613 $53,981
Wisconsin $39,919 $52,774 $63,266 $73,359
Wyoming $38,003 $51,498 $60,795 $64,966

* Add $6,300 for each individual in excess of 4.



COMMONWEALTH OR
U.S. TERRITORY FAMILY SIZE
1 EARNER 2 PEOPLE 3 PEOPLE 4 PEOPLE *

Guam $33,634 $40,214 $45,828 $55,457
Northern Mariana Islands $22,586 $22,586 $26,278 $38,650
Puerto Rico $19,200 $19,200 $21,955 $26,788
Virgin Islands $26,686 $32,075 $34,197 $37,467

* Add $6,300 for each individual in excess of 4.



Last Update: January 19, 2007 10:32 AM

[redemption]

Thanks for the info. I'm still over though. Is there anyone who can tell me about being over the median and where still able to file CH7? Also looking for info about PACER as well. TIA!

[lrprn]

Thanks for the info. I'm still over though. Is there anyone who can tell me about being over the median and where still able to file CH7?

It is possible to make over the median income and still file Ch 7 if the Means Test shows you have less than $100/month available as disposable income to pay creditors in a Ch 13 plan.

Also looking for info about PACER as well.

Find out everything you wanted to know about PACER at the PACER website - http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/ . The FAQs link is very helpful explaining how PACER works, and the PACER abbreviation webpage at http://www.pacer.org/parent/php/PHP-c38.pdf will help you figure out what all the abbreviations mean. HTH!

[SinkingFast]

We don't have your housing and food allowances, but we do have similar pay issues. Hubby has insurances and 401K that are taken out on a "pre-tax" basis. Hubby's taxable gross is substantially less than his actual, earned gross. Our BK was filed based on earned gross, not taxable gross. So that would probably be the same with you. Your housing and food allowances would be considered in your earned gross as well.

To search PACER for your attny,............. Go to the PACER Home page. At the top is a tool bar. Highlight Links and click on PACER Links. Next page, click on Bankruptcy. Look for your State and District. Click on that link. You'll be directed to your District's home page. Click the link at the top, center. Then select Query from the tool bar at the top of the page. Next page, you'll have to Log In. Once you Log In, you'll be taken to a Query page. On the Query page, you can enter your attny's name (maybe only use her last name) and in Type of Search, Select Attny.

You may get several names of attnys. Your attny could have used her name one way to start her career and then changed the way she uses her name.

Once you have your attny, you can look at various cases she's filed. The first webpage will be a list of all the names of all the people she's filed for. If she's an older woman who's been practicing BK a while, that could be hundreds of cases.

BEWARE,............. Each billable page at PACER costs 8 cents. And ONE webpage at PACER can be 40, 50, maybe more billable pages. The list of clients names and dates of BK's filed can easily be that many pages for a seasoned attny.

Each and every case you look at is gonna be lots of pages. The Documents/Filing History .pdf file is 30-40 pages each. If you look at a case, go to another webpage, and then decide to go back the same case, you're gonna get double billed.

[redemption]

Thanks for your help SinkingFast. If you were over the median, how were you able to still file CH7?

[SinkingFast]

We weren't over the Median.

I was just mentioning the pretax deductions as that is similar to your Housing and Food allowances.

Hubby makes about $6K less than the Median, gross. But taxable income, after pretax deductions were made, was over $12K below the Median.