confusion

What is the name of your state? Ky

We have chosen our attorney and are in the process of paying him so we can file Ch 7. I have my expense budget that I am working on, and I am beating my head against the wall over it. What I don't understand is what they want. My husband and I are separating, so we are surrendering our house and moving in with our parents for now. Our car's transmission blew out yesterday and we can't afford to have it fixed, so my father in law is letting us borrow his. We decided to go ahead and surrender the car as well. We are behind on our mortgage and car payments, there is no way we could catch up on those. Since we are surrendering all this, we can't include those payments on our budget. From my understanding, they look at this budget to see if we are in the positive with expenses to income. If you are in the positive, Ch7 can be denied and we could be forced into Ch13. Enter the confusion. If we are allowed the Ch7, we will be in the positive, which is the whole point of filing, to start over. If we are forced into Ch 13, we will be way in the negative because instead of rent to our parents, we would instead be paying our mortgage and 2nd mortgage plus the payments for the back mortgage, CC, medical bills and the repossession. We CAN'T afford Ch 13. What does this mean for us? I still need to do some tweaking on the budget, but for now, without the mortgages and car, we are positive about $300. But like I said, if we had to do a 13, we would be negative like $400. Will they look at it like that, or are we pretty much screwed? I need some advice before I scream. Thank you!

[Ladynred]

Don't scream yet

What are you listing as expenses ?? Hopefully it is more than rent, utilities, food, phone and clothing - there is much, much more that goes into 'normal living expenses'.

Sit down and make a list of ALL of the things you would normally spend money on over the course of a year, then average it out for a monthly number.

Include things like:
dry cleaning and laundry
household maintenance - all that 'little' stuff + cleaning, carpet cleaning
personal care and hygiene ( haircuts, etc. women spend more on this than men do !)
auto expenses - tire rotations, oil changes, wiper blades, windshield washer fluid, tune-ups and any other maintenance
insurances - house/renters, medical, auto
shoe repair
pet care
banking fees - checks you buy, monthly maintenance fees, overdraft fees, etc.
professional publications and memberships
birthday and holiday gifts CAN be included (within reason)

If you've got children, then you've got school-related expenses
cable and internet service
cell phone
medical co-pays, eye exams, dental

I may have even missed some, but I think you get my drift. Your lawyer should help you adjust the amounts to be sure they're allowed by what the Trustee's in your area will accept.

ok, I am working on this budget, such a headache, and I thought of another question. Will I have to supply proof of these expenses, like receipts and stuff? I just want to make sure that I have everything I need to get this done and over with. Thank you!