Should My Schedule I Income Always Match my Means Test Income Numbers?
By Jonathan Ginsberg, Atlanta Bankruptcy Attorney on Oct 26, 2009 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.
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