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Bankruptcy Means Test Figures Changing March 15, 2011

By Susanne Robicsek, North Carolina Bankruptcy Attorn

The Bankruptcy Means Test figures are changing again on March 14, 2011 and I am once again reminded of how absurd the means test numbers are.  When the US Trustee posts new means test figures, I alway take a careful look at the numbers when they change and compare them to what they had been to determine how it will affect my clients.   

The strangest thing I found in my review was the allowance for housekeeping supplies for two people is a dollar more than three people.  Does the government think that three people need less cleaning products or use less toilet paper than two?  Odd. 

As usual, I don’t understand how anyone is expected to live on these made up figures.  They don’t reflect reality or adjust for what a family really spends.  There was no increase in the operating costs for automobiles,  despite the fact that the price of gas is rising, seemingly by the minute.   ABC News reports:

Economists are concerned that surging oil prices could adversely affect consumers and possibly devastate an economy that’s gaining traction after more than two years in the doldrums.

Thankfully, North Carolina bankruptcy debtors don’t have to consider what I wrote about  in my article Bankruptcy Means Test Irony: As Incomes Drop, More May Have To File Chapter 13. North Carolina median incomes largely stayed the same or improved a few dollars.  States whose median incomes drop may want to read that article to see how falling incomes can subject more people to the means test, which is a counter intuitive result.  (Read my article if you want to see what I mean.)

see also:

Bankruptcy Means Test: Costly and Really Pointless by Susanne Robicsek, Charlotte NC bankruptcy lawyer

BAPCPA The New Bankruptcy Law: A Mean Law by Susanne Robicsek Charlotte NC Bankruptcy Lawyer

Bankruptcy Reform: Costly But Pointless by Cathy Moran, Bay Area CA Bankruptcy Lawyer

Part Four: Kinds Of Income Reported In Bankruptcy; What Is CMI, Also Known As Means Test Income? by Susanne Robicsek Charlotte NC Bankruptcy Lawyer

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Full post as published by Credit Law Network on March 02, 2011 (boomark / email).