Scenario: Filing Chapter 13 Now Shortens a Case by Two Years

Here’s a scenario showing how the timing of your Chapter 13 filing can shorten your payment plan from 5 years to only 3.

In our last blog post we explained how your last 6 calendar months of income can determine whether your Chapter 13 payment plan lasts 3 years or instead 5 years. We showed how even relatively small shifts in the money you receive can cause this huge difference.

How this can happen will make more sense after reading through the following scenario.

Our Facts About “Income”

Remember from last time that your “income” includes money from just about all sources, except Social Security. Also, the only money that counts is that which you received during the 6 FULL CALENDAR months before filing. This means that money received DURING the calendar month of filing DOESN’T count. For example, if you file your Chapter 13 case on January 31 you count the income from the previous July 1 through December 31. You don’t count any income received in January.

In our scenario assume you worked a second job during the holidays. Your monthly paycheck for December from this job is arriving on January 4, 2019. The anticipated gross income amount is $2,500. This money could also come from just about any other source. For example, your ex-spouse may be able to catching up on some unpaid child support owed because he/she received an annual bonus. It could be from just about any source. The point is that there’s an extra $2,500 arriving in early January.

In addition you receive $3,600 gross income every month from your regular job.

You received no money from any sources other than your regular job from July 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018. You expect to receive no money in January 2019 other than the $3,600 gross income and the additional $2,500.

So, assume that your bankruptcy lawyer files your Chapter 13 case between January 1 and January 31, 2019. The income that counts is what you received during the 6 prior full calendar months. That’s from July 1 through December 31, 2018. That is $3,600 per month times 6 months, or $21,600, or $43,200 for the annualized amount.

Our Facts About “Median Family Income”

Your income, as just discussed, determines whether your minimum payment plan length is 3 vs. 5 years. If your income is less than the designated “median family income,” your minimum plan length is 3 years. If your income is the same as or more than “median family income,” your minimum plan length is 5 years. Section 1322(d) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

The “median family income” amounts (Section 39A of the Bankruptcy Code) come from the U.S. Census Bureau. This source data is adjusted annually, and is also adjusted more often to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index. (The CPI comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.) The U.S. Trustee conveniently gathers this information at this webpage. From there the most recent median family income amounts (as of this writing) are compiled in this table.

For our scenario assume that you are single and live in Kentucky. According to the above table the median family income for a single person in Kentucky is $44,552. (You can find your own median family income by finding your state and family size in the table.)

Filing a Chapter 13 Case in January 2019

Under the facts outlined above, if you filed a Chapter 13 case during January 2019, your case could last 2 years less than if you filed the case in February, conceivably just a few days later.

Why? Because if you file in January you don’t count the income from that month. That means that you don’t count the $2,500 in income from the holiday job. You only count the $3,600 per month you received July through December from your regular job. As calculated above, that means an annualized income of $43,200. That is less than the applicable median family income amount of $44,552. So you’d be allowed to have a Chapter 13 payment plan that lasts only 3 years, and not be required to pay for 5 years.

Filing a Chapter 13 Case After January 2019

But if you file in February 2019 (or any of the following 5 months) your Chapter 13 plan would be required to last 5 years.

Why? Because if you file in February (or during the next 5 months) you do count the income from that month. That includes the $2,500 in income from the holiday job. When filing in February, for example, you count the income from August 1, 2018 through January 31, 2019. That includes the $3,600 per month from your regular job, plus the $2,500 from the holiday job. Six times $3,600 is $21,600, plus $2,500 equals $24,100. Multiply this by 2 gives you an annualized income of $48,200.

That is more than the applicable median family income amount of $44,552. So you’d be required to pay into your Chapter 13 plan for a full 5 years.

Next week we’ll discuss the financial and other consequences of this, and some other very important considerations.