AboutMark J. Markus- Bankruptcy Attorney Expertise Mark J. Markus is a Los Angeles attorney who has practiced exclusively bankruptcy law in California since 1991 and is BV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He represents debtors, creditors, and Trustees in Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code throughout California.
Experience Visit http://www.bklaw.com for more information on bankruptcy in general and Mark J. Markus in particular. Many questions are answered on the web page (hint, hint). The Markus webpage also contains more information on
Question QUESTION: On the means test, I am planning on using the Education Expense for $137.50(line 38). My son currently attends Catholic school, with a monthly tuition of $320.
If you claim this expense, do you typically have to justify this expense (i.e. does the UST give debtors a hard time with this expense)?
Thanks
ANSWER: That varies from office to office. There's no way I can answer that. The advice I give my clients is that if it makes the difference between passing and not passing the means test, you better have the documentation ready.
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QUESTION: Thanks
In your experience what type of documentation do you recommend your clients have? Just statements that prove the actual expense, or something more than that?
Answer I've never had a client need to prove it up, but you need to provide documentation showing the actual payment of the expenses, AND explain why these are reasonable and necessary and explain that they are not already covered in the IRS standards already appearing elsewhere on the means test. If this is truly an issue in your case, you need to hire an attorney to properly advise you.
