The good news about Chapter 13 bankruptcy is that your life doesn’t need to go on pause once we file your case. You can live! Get married, have a child, move! We can always adjust your Chapter 13 plan. When we originally file your case, we are budgeting your Chapter 13 payments. These are based on your foreseeable income and expenses at the time of filing. Obviously, life can throw some good and bad curve-balls at us. That is why you can file modifications along the way. You can adjust your payments for any increased costs, income changes, etc. during the life of your Chapter 13.
HOW MARRIAGE AFFECTS CHAPTER 13 BANKRUPTCY IN MN
If you get married while in a Chapter 13, your trustee will find out when they see your next tax returns. They might want to look at whether your new spouse has any income. This income could contribute to your household, meaning new disposable income for your Chapter 13 payments. Usually, they don’t bother because a new spouse also has their own new expenses that negate the increase in income. Therefore, it is likely irrelevant when our Minnesota bankruptcy clients marry.
HOW PREGNANCY CAN LOWER YOUR CHAPTER 13 PAYMENTS IN MN
Sometimes there are new expenses that arise during the life of the Chapter 13. If you become a parent during your bankruptcy, it makes sense that comes with increased household expenses. Let your attorney know and they can look at your budget to see if they can lower your payments to account for the new addition. It may not always be possible to lower your payment because oftentimes the payments are at the minimum possible to get the chapter 13 confirmed already, so there is no room to change it.
CAN I MOVE OUT OF STATE DURING MY MN CHAPTER 13 BANKRUPTCY
You can move anywhere in the world while you are in your Chapter 13. As long as you stay current with your payments and send in your tax returns every year, you can live anywhere. Simply let your attorney know your new address each time you move so we can update it in our system and with the Bankruptcy Court.
