Lots of questions

[km2654]

I went for my 1st attorney consultation yesterday. I will not be retaining him. When I asked him if he came to the 341 meeting with me he had this blank look on his face. I said the meeting with the judge, he said "oh you mean the 528". Claims he has been doing bankruptcy work for 8 years.

He told me that I passed the means test for a C7, but there might be a problem with how much extra money I would have if I had no credit cards to pay. It would be about $700.

Is this true even if I passed the means test? Would it convert to a C13?

[OhioFiler]

OhioFiler, in this case the 18-year-old was very likely keeping all of his small income for his own use and was not supporting the household with any of it. Therefore even if that income had been included, all of it would have been taken back out later on the Means Test.

Accidentally not including the 18-year-old's income when LifeLesson filed doesn't change the final income determination. That's why there's no need to worry about amending to include it now after filing.

Respectfully, I have to disagree. If you are going to include the 18 year old(emancipated) son for means testing as an expense then it would be important to include his income as well.

Your argument would imply that if my wife had a part-time job making some spending money for herself but not using it to pay the household bills I could include her on my means test to bump up my expenses but exclude her part-time income.

I do agree it probably would not have effected the OP's final income determination.

[lrprn]

I wouldn't recommend this strategy. You must include all household income on the means test.

OhioFiler, in this case the 18-year-old was very likely keeping all of his small income for his own use and was not supporting the household with any of it. Therefore even if that income had been included, all of it would have been taken back out later on the Means Test.

Accidentally not including the 18-year-old's income when LifeLesson filed doesn't change the final income determination. That's why there's no need to worry about amending to include it now after filing.

[OhioFiler]

our son turned 18 in Feb. the attorney did not include his income, because we never even thought of the little bit he was gettin. She never asked if he had any income. By having him on our filing as a dependant it helped us be under the median(?) for a family of 5. Had we not had him we would have been over it but like 300. Yup just a few bucks and it would of went as a C13.

I wouldn't recommend this strategy. You must include all household income on the means test.

[lifelesson]

our son turned 18 in Feb. the attorney did not include his income, because we never even thought of the little bit he was gettin. She never asked if he had any income. By having him on our filing as a dependant it helped us be under the median(?) for a family of 5. Had we not had him we would have been over it but like 300. Yup just a few bucks and it would of went as a C13.

[km2654]

Thank you..I am so glad I found this board!

[aces67]

I would make the minimum payment on the cash advance but do not pay the credit union off. In BK you can't be loyal to any one creditor.

[mike258]

I would make minimum payments on the $6,500 cash advance for at least six months.

If you pay the credit union in full before you file, the trustee will consider it a "preferential payment" and will go after the credit union to get the money back. The rule is that you cannot pay any creditor more than $600 within the 90 days prior to filing.

[OhioFiler]

You will include your daughter's income in your household income for BK. It shouldn't be a factor.

Your cash advance is an issue. I would recommend paying the minimum due on that account for a few months. I'd wait at least 6 months, a year would be even better, before you file.

You can pay anyone you want any amount you want. If the trustee thinks you've made preferential payments to any creditors he'll get the money back from the creditor and divvy it up for everyone.

[hamburgervol]

I would think you may need to wait 6 months(or maybe it's 3 months?) or so to file because of the $6,500 cash advance. Can you wait a few months?

[km2654]

I am thinking about filing. I have $30,000 in credit card debt and a $72,000 heloc. My house was foreclosure on in March. I think I qualify for a Chapter 7. I have not missed any payments yet.

I have a few questions.
My daughter turned 18 in April. She is a student with a part time job.
Do I include her income?
In June I took a cash advance of $6500 on a credit card to try and consolidate my debt. I charged $150 this month. My dog is sick and
I will need to charge the Vet visit.
How long should I wait to file?
I owe my credit union $1800 I feel some loyalty to them. Can I pay them before filing?
What should I do to protect myself before filing?

Thanks