《楊清泉律師專欄》SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS NOT PART OF DISPOSABLE INCOME …(Part II)
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SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS NOT PART OF DISPOSABLE INCOME IN CHAPTER 13 BANKRUPTCIES
《楊清泉律師專欄》SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS NOT PART OF DISPOSABLE INCOME IN CHAPTER 13 BANKRUPTCIES (Part I)
This was Ms. Miller’s problem in her case. Ms. Miller’s was a chapter 13 debtor whose income consisted of social security benefits of $588 monthly. Her spouse who did not join her in filing chapter 13 received $1,545 in social security benefits and $2,823 in VA disability benefits each month. Her husband lived in a nursing home at no cost to the household. The husband’s social security benefit payments were issued in his name and deposited into the couple’s joint account. The debtor reported monthly household income of $4,956 and expenses of $2,568, leaving her with monthly net income of $2,388 per month. She was current with her mortgage payments, her only secured debt. She had no priority debt owed to the IRS and about $87,000 of credit card debt. Her chapter 13 plan proposed payments of $255 per month for 36 months which paid 6% of her credit card debt. Note that she arrived at her plan payment of $255 by excluding her social security benefits as well as her Husband’s social security benefits from her disposable income of $2,388. The trustee objected to the confirmation of her chapter 13 plan arguing that the husband’s social security income was not exempt and was available to pay creditors because husband did not join debtor in filing for chapter 13.
The bankruptcy court overruled the trustee’s objection saying that, “The language of Section 101(10A) states that “benefits received under the Social Security Act are excluded from current monthly income. Section 101(10A) does not specify that those benefits must be payable to the debtor, as the language in Section 522 indicates. The different language qualifying the scope of the sections leads to the conclusion that Congress intended differing treatment for Social Security benefits in the context of calculating a debtor’s current monthly income than Social Security benefits in the context of a debtor’s exemptions. The Court finds that based on the plain language of Section 101(10A) and Section 522(d)(10)(A), it was Congress’ intent to EXCLUDE social security benefits from the calculation of current monthly income…”
Lawrence Bautista Yang is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and has been in law practice for thirty years. He specializes in bankruptcy, business and civil litigation and has handled more than four thousand successful bankruptcy cases in California. He speaks Mandarin and Fujien and looks forward to discussing your case with you personally. Please call (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 1000 S Fremont Ave Bldg A-1 Suite 1125 Unit 58 Alhambra, CA 91803.
《楊清泉律師專欄》SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS NOT PART OF DISPOSABLE INCOME IN CHAPTER 13 BANKRUPTCIES (Part I)
This was Ms. Miller’s problem in her case. Ms. Miller’s was a chapter 13 debtor whose income consisted of social security benefits of $588 monthly. Her spouse who did not join her in filing chapter 13 received $1,545 in social security benefits and $2,823 in VA disability benefits each month. Her husband lived in a nursing home at no cost to the household. The husband’s social security benefit payments were issued in his name and deposited into the couple’s joint account. The debtor reported monthly household income of $4,956 and expenses of $2,568, leaving her with monthly net income of $2,388 per month. She was current with her mortgage payments, her only secured debt. She had no priority debt owed to the IRS and about $87,000 of credit card debt. Her chapter 13 plan proposed payments of $255 per month for 36 months which paid 6% of her credit card debt. Note that she arrived at her plan payment of $255 by excluding her social security benefits as well as her Husband’s social security benefits from her disposable income of $2,388. The trustee objected to the confirmation of her chapter 13 plan arguing that the husband’s social security income was not exempt and was available to pay creditors because husband did not join debtor in filing for chapter 13.
The bankruptcy court overruled the trustee’s objection saying that, “The language of Section 101(10A) states that “benefits received under the Social Security Act are excluded from current monthly income. Section 101(10A) does not specify that those benefits must be payable to the debtor, as the language in Section 522 indicates. The different language qualifying the scope of the sections leads to the conclusion that Congress intended differing treatment for Social Security benefits in the context of calculating a debtor’s current monthly income than Social Security benefits in the context of a debtor’s exemptions. The Court finds that based on the plain language of Section 101(10A) and Section 522(d)(10)(A), it was Congress’ intent to EXCLUDE social security benefits from the calculation of current monthly income…”
Lawrence Bautista Yang is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and has been in law practice for thirty years. He specializes in bankruptcy, business and civil litigation and has handled more than four thousand successful bankruptcy cases in California. He speaks Mandarin and Fujien and looks forward to discussing your case with you personally. Please call (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 1000 S Fremont Ave Bldg A-1 Suite 1125 Unit 58 Alhambra, CA 91803.
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