A Chapter 13 bankruptcy, as I’ve described here in prior posts, is essentially a monthly payment plan in which some and sometimes all of your debts are paid according to what, in theory, you can afford to pay after your basic household expenses are met each month. In other words, you pay in a Chapter 13 what you have left over each month of your available income after paying your household bills.
The question, from the point of view of the Chapter 13 Trustees who are assigned to your case by the Bankruptcy Court after your case is filed and whose job it is to review proposed Chapter 13 Plans and either approve or object to them, is: what is a necessary household expense?
