Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Minnesota

Re: Means test

You would be eligible for a Chapter 13 if you have a regular income and can propose a repayment plan to make payments to creditors over 3 or 5 years. The advantage of the 13 is that you can keep your property.

For the 7 you'd have to qualify under the mean's test. I would have to get all the figures from you first before giving you a definitive answer on what route you should take.

But from what you've said you should be able to qualify for a 13. The 7 would depend on all your debts and income.

Please contact me if you'd like to discuss further.

Re: Means test

Median for a household of five is $94,534.00, so on your numbers you are "over median". That means you will have to do a full-blown means test to see how the numbers work out. Variables include tax withholding, scheduled payments on your mortgage, and lots of other numbers. If you are a real masochist you can download the official form 22A or 22C yourself and plug in the relevant numbers. Believe me, software makes it a lot easier!

There are two budgets you need to do -- one is the retrospective means test (last six months, not including month of filing, so this month it is Dec. 2008 and Jan-May 2009) and the "real budget" (Schedules I and J) which is a prospective "this is how much we net and how much we spend".

You don't say where in Minnesota you are; I suggest you contact someone in your area who does a lot of bankruptcy law and give them the information they will need to do the "means test".

The reason for doing both budgets is to see if you could do a ch. 7 if you wanted; you can always choose to do a 13 if you want, assuming you can show some disposable income.