If you are above the median income, but are negative with the means test can you still file chapter 7?
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Filed 1/27/2011
341 3/28/2011 -
If you truly have disposable income less than $100/month or negative showing on both the Means Test and Schedules, then yes, you can file Ch 7 and can be successfully discharged. Several of our forum members have done so, and a few have been well over the median income for their state and were still able to file and be discharged from Ch 7 successfully. Another option is if more than 50% of your debt is business-related. You don't have to do the Means Test in that situation.Originally posted by hughewil View Post
Understand that because your income is over the median for your family size, your case is likely to get extra scrutiny from your local trustee and the US Trustee in your region. Still, if the reality is that you truly don't have enough disposable income to support a Ch 13 that will give your creditors at least as much as they would receive if you filed Ch 7, then you have every right to file Ch 7 and be successfully discharged.
You can file your Ch 7 case on your own without a lawyer (pro se) but there are a lot of twists and turns in the way the bk law is interpreted in each local court and in different bk districts across the country. That's why most filers who are over-median retain an experienced bk lawyer to guide them, file their case, and fight for them if the local or US trustee challenges their filing with objections.Last edited by lrprn; 05-02-2010, 03:50 PM.I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice nor a statement of the law - only a lawyer can provide those.
06/01/06 - Filed Ch 13
06/28/06 - 341 Meeting
07/18/06 - Confirmation Hearing - not confirmed, 3 objections
10/05/06 - Hearing to resolve 2 trustee objections
01/24/07 - Judge dismisses mortgage company objection
09/27/07 - Confirmed at last!
06/10/11 - Trustee confirms all payments made
08/10/11 - DISCHARGED !
10/02/11 - CASE CLOSED
Countdown: 60 months paid, 0 months to go -
At first we were within the means test but the BK attorney was not sure if we should even file because we had no unsecured debt (but soon to be unsecured in a foreclosure). In our second meeting with him he said something about filing our case as a failed business and the means test did not apply. Where can I find more information on this type of filing?Originally posted by lrprn View PostComment
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