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Should My Schedule I Income Always Match my Means Test Income Numbers?

by Jonathan Ginsberg, Atlanta Bankruptcy Attorney on October 26, 2009 · 0 comments · Posted in Means Testing

Although it has been in effect for several years, the median income/means test provisions of the Bankruptcy Code continue to confuse potential bankruptcy filers.

In my Atlanta, Georgia bankruptcy practice, I regularly get questions from new clients about the two “budgets” that are filed in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases.  The first “budget” is the median income/means test budget.   The income side of this budget is a calculated figure that arises from a month by month analysis of the gross pay of income earners in a household for the six months preceding the monthly of filing.

The second budget is what I call the “real life” budget that reflects the debtor’s current income and expense situation.

In my view the “means test budget” is not intended to actually function as a budget.  Instead, taken as a whole, the means test is a qualification test to point you to either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13.

Frequently the real life Schedule I and J budget looks completely different from the Form 22 means test budget and that’s fine.  I have never seen any objection from the U.S. Trustee, a Chapter 7 trustee or a Chapter 13 trustee premised on the grounds that the means test numbers were inconsistent with Schedules I and J.

Related posts:

  1. Median Household Income Numbers in Georgia Reduced after Nov. 1, 2009
  2. Does the Payment in my Chapter 13 Plan Ever Change?

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