Changed from a 7 to a 13..

[IBA]

Just received a call from lawyer telling us we were not going to be able go forward with filing 7...Court was tomorrow morning at 9:00am... Going to change it to a 13...Not sure about all this...The reason was that the court administator rejected my contrubition to my 401k & Tithes were not where we orginally said. Any advice from here? She is going to call back tomorrow to give us an estimated re-payment plan...

[AngelinaCat]

Please explain what you mean by "Court was tomorrow morning at 9:00am". Was that when you were going to file? Or was this the date of your 341 meeting?"

A little more information is needed before anyone can offer a reasonable opinion.

[IBA]

Sorry it was my 341 meeting that i was to attend.

[Pandora]

Your lawyer filed your paperwork, scheduled your 341 and yet didnt know or give you an inkling that the Ch. 7 may not fly beforehand? Kind of late in the game to tell a client "oh by the way...." when your 341 is the next day...

are you over median? did you look over all schedules to ensure you are getting to deduct every expense that you pay for yearly, and at the right amounts? Tithing is allowed up to 15% I believe - its a given in BK practices. Of course, if you're over median and your 15% ends up being $1K a month yet you have no way of proving it... that may come into question....

[keepmine]

Also, what percent of your check were you contributing to a 401K? Was it above your employers match?

[frogger]

The reason was that the court administator rejected my contrubition to my 401k & Tithes were not where we orginally said.

It appears that what you stated as an expense vs. what your receipts or bank statements state do not match up. That's a problem....

[momofthree]

I'm surprised your attorney even submitted the tithing as an expense when you couldn't show proof of it. The first thing our attorney asked for when he saw tithing on our budget was "how long have you been tithing and can you provide proof?" Thankfully, we had both receipts (printout from church) and taxes going back a couple of years showing our tithing history.

[lichteda]

All good points here. We tithe a full 10% ($700 per month). This drove the 13 Trustee nuts... but all documented. The mortage bank even questioned it to the Judge... my lawyer; "the court cannot mandate a tithe amount". It's one of the few issues we were successful with during the 13. Note; we just converted to a 7... wonder what the new trustee will ask at our 341...

[jetsfan2010]

interesting notes. When I spoke with attorney recently, the tithing topic came up. since I just recently started to go back to church, I only had a few months that I had been tithing, and the first month I actually started using checks(not cash) was this past month. He said he really didnt think he would include this in my schedules, due to the short amt of time.

[frogger]

interesting notes. When I spoke with attorney recently, the tithing topic came up. since I just recently started to go back to church, I only had a few months that I had been tithing, and the first month I actually started using checks(not cash) was this past month. He said he really didnt think he would include this in my schedules, due to the short amt of time.

I think your attorney is right on this one. Tithing is a good thing, but you need a pattern and history of doing so that you can document.

If you just started tithing, it would have the appearance of someone trying to game the system.

[tobee43]

I think your attorney is right on this one. Tithing is a good thing, but you need a pattern and history of doing so that you can document.

If you just started tithing, it would have the appearance of someone trying to game the system.

this fact about tithing is, as frogger points out, there must be an established pattern. we have tithed for over 40 years and we could prove that by our 1040's we have filed for all those years.

the amount was put on our petition, but once again, it goes back to receipts, backcup documents and proofs, etc. we actually submitted receipts with our petition...lucky for us the year we filed most of our tithing went to distribution to a county and state agencies. the trustee had no question about official receipts from them.