Authenticating the Means Test
By Cathy Moran, California bankruptcy lawyer on Dec 12, 2007 in Bankruptcy Practice and Procedure, General Bankruptcy Information, Lawyer to Lawyer
The means test and the related calculation of monthly disposable income are so complex and full of legal uncertainty that asking the debtor to sign the form seems like either a farce or a trap.
The form solicits information about income “received and derived” within the past six months. There is no legislative history to tell us what “derived” means in this context. If the debtor gets a paycheck in the first month of the six month look back that represents wages for work in the prior month, is that check “derived” in the month it was received. I certainly don’t know, and my client hasn’t a prayer of knowing.
Likewise, portions of the form call for numbers drawn from the IRS collection standards. I believe I pulled the correct numbers, but how can my client, who is expected to sign the form, know that?
I could go on, and on, on the subject. Most debtors have trouble getting us the raw data on these issues; we have to extract it, rationalize it, and categorize it. How are they expected to validate this form which lists 1/60th of the amount necessary to cure mortgage arrears and a number for their car payment that is different from the contractual payment?
Mercifully, nothing untoward has yet happened to me or my clients on this subject, but I am queasy every time I ask a client to sign a B-22. Welcome to bankruptcy “reform.”
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