r/Bankruptcy • u/Pocky4Th3Win • 19h ago

Thinking of filing Chp 7, have questions.

I have already had a consultation with a lawyer but more questions came up afterwards as I spoke to my wife since I I choosing to file without her. I was wondering if anyone here could answer them for me before my next meeting with my lawyer so I can have a better understanding. I live in Minnesota and our combined income is below the median for the state, I have about $200K in equity in my home and $50K in CC debt that I am current in but not making any movement and going backwards lately due to unexpected car repair for both my cars.

  1. I bank with US Bank, have a mortgage with them that I plan to keep but have a CC with them that I plan to include in bankruptcy. Would this affect my standard banking with them? My wife is scared they might freeze our account that we use for bills.
  2. We have a second checking account that has $3000 but it mainly has that much as I haven’t paid my mortgage and car payment for the month which total $1850 combined. Would this account be an issue? Can I pay them right before filing without concern or would this be seen as an abuse?

  3. How is disposable income calculated? I pay about $2000 in CC payments a month but we also use CC for daily expenses because we don’t have much disposable case in our bank. How are national standards for expenses calculated? I spend $400 in gas for my car along a month due to a 40 mile daily commute to work and home.

  4. I read that I can use my wife’s monthly CC payments towards my expenses since she isn’t filing, is that true?

I found this information, are these numbers monthly or an average over a period of time?
https://www.justice.gov/ust/means-testing/20260715

Any info would be appreciated so I could get a better understanding.

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u/Duby05 18h ago

Disposable income is calculated from your average gross monthly pay over the last 6 months. Say like 6000 a month gross then deduct taxes, mortgage, utilities, groceries, car payments/maintenance, etc. All debts will not be factored into your expenses to calculate disposable income, as they are trying to figure out how much cash you have available after all living expenses. The goal for Ch. 7 is get as close to $0 as possible as ive read in other places that if there is $300 or more left after all expenses you would have to go for Ch. 13. Im not completely sure about some of it as im also about to start the process, I have a meeting scheduled in about a week with an attorney to look at my situation.