Bankruptcy Indiana

Leaves are falling, temperatures are dropping, and, as all good bankruptcy attorneys in Indiana know, numbers are changing. As a longtime debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana, by now I’m used to these twice-yearly shifts.

There are actually a number of ways in which the new numbers (in effect for cases filed under Indiana bankruptcy law on or after November 1 of this year) affect the planning I do with clients.

First, let’s talk about the means test, which is a sort of measuring stick the courts use to determine who’s eligible to file under the new bankruptcy laws in Indiana, and for what type of bankruptcy each debtor qualifies. As one of my Columbus bankruptcy lawyer colleagues always points out, the numbers are not the same in every state.

In Indiana, a one-person household can have income up to $39,987, with anything above that amount meaning that person can be disqualified from seeking relief under bankruptcy Chapter 7 in Indiana. A two-person household, by comparison, is allowed to have up to $49,669 in income, while a four-person household may have up to $67,296 and still file a Chapter 7. For every extra person in the household above four, $7,500 is added to the allowable income number.

The counting continues beyond income dollars, however, and gets far more detailed, using different numbers depending on which Indiana county the debtors live in. Depending upon family size, there is a dollar figure for how much money may be kept each month by the debtor for the mortgage or rent payment, for non-mortgage expenses, and for car-related expenses.

The four Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices are located in Indianapolis, Columbus, Bloomington, and Anderson, serving 60 different counties, so knowing the precise numbers becomes very important to us as we offer Indiana bankruptcy help.

So, for example, in Marion County the monthly allowance for mortgage or rent (for a one-person household) is $777, while in Shelby County it’s $743. The monthly non-mortgage allowance in Brown County is $417, as compared to $384 in Marion County. The financial standards are broken down into even finer categories for food, housekeeping supplies, apparel and services, personal care products and services, and miscellaneous. Health care expenses have allowances that are different for those under or over age 65.

Whether my clients need payday loan debt help, student loan debt help, help to stop foreclosure on their home, or are considering filing small business bankruptcy in Indiana – I need to be counting heads and dollars. And, whether my clients are filing bankruptcy Chapter 7 in Indiana or filing under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law – I need to be counting income and expenses. In the end, it all boils down to numbers and people!