Category — Filing Bankruptcy

It will be a little easier to qualify for bankruptcy relief when the income guidelines used for eligibility increase slightly on October 1.  A single Kansas earner will be able to make $894 more per year and qualify for chapter 7 bankruptcy relief.  A family of four will be allowed a $2036 more income per year in Kansas.

Here are the "means test" figures now in effect and the figures expected to be approved by the U.S. Trustee for bankruptcy cases file on October 1, 2008, or after.

• 1 earner                       $38,594      $39,488
• 2-person families    $52,989      $54,070
• 3-person families    $58,075      $60,906
• 4-person families    $69.831      $71,867
• 5-person families    $76,731      $68,548
• 6-person families    $83,631      $63,075

These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau for each state and family size.  They are recalculated annually and adjusted for changes in the consumer price index, then adopted by the U.S. Trustee for bankruptcy purposes.

Debtors filing a bankruptcy petition must fill out a "means test" form to determine their ability to repay their unsecured debt.  You pass the means test if your income is less than the median income figures on this chart.  It is not quite that simple, though, because there are all sorts of legal arguments over the definition of family size and what counts as income.

See my post and other information on means testing on the Bankruptcy Law Network.  If byou have primarily non=consumer debt, you may be exempt from the means test.

A Wichita car dealer who gave money to relatives before filing his bankruptcy case and lied on his bankruptcy paperwork was convicted of federal crimes this week and faces possible jail time for his fraud.

Evidence at trial proved he gave money to his wife and his brother prior to filing his bankruptcy case and he lied on his paperwork. He falsely said he had no bank accounts and he had made no transfers of money to relatives nor closed any bank accounts. He also charged $125,000 on credit cards within a year of filing the bankruptcy petition for airline tickets, jewelry and other goods. [Read more →]

Your spouse does not have to file bankruptcy with you in Kansas, but make sure you don't want to file a joint case, because you can't add your spouse to the case later.

Judge Dale L. Somers denied an attempt by a debtor to add her spouse two months after she filed her case by amending her petition filed with the Court. In Re Cheryl R. Daly, 07-22628-13, (Bankr. D.Kan. 01-28-2007).

It would be possible for the nonfiling spouse to file his own case and then consolidate the two cases for administration.