How long after filing a Chapter 13 BK (in California) do I have to wait to get married?

Marriage during Bankruptcy must surely be for love as it cannot be for money. My concern: the prepayment of services, banquets, etc are assets with a potential liquidation value. However, unless your wedding is of brobdignanian proportions, it would probably take a ch 13 trustee with a first name of "Ebenezer" for this to create a problem.

This is a tricky scenario. The short answer is, you don't have to wait to get married, but getting married could definitely affect your plan payment. Since all income you earn/receive during your Chapter 13 case is property of the bankruptcy estate, if you get married during your case, then your community property interest in your spouse's income will become property of the bankruptcy estate. What this means specifically for your case depends on the facts, such as whether you are already proposing to pay unsecured creditors 100%, or less.. If you're paying less, then there's always the possibility that the Chapter 13 Trustee or creditors will seek to increase your plan payment after you get married (assuming your spouse has any income). There are other factors involved here as well, so you really need to have an experienced bankruptcy attorney analyze your entire situation and advise you on the best way to proceed. Mark Markus has been practicing exclusively bankruptcy law in California since 1991. He is a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, AV-Rated by martindale.com, and A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau. CONTACT MARK for more information or to schedule an appointment.

Depending on your spouse’s income your getting married may have no effect on your Chapter 13 case. You are planning to file your case in May 2013 and planning to get married in July, the Trustee in your case will be interested in your spouse’s income if at all in 2014. You are in the planning phase which is good. Why not meet with an attorney now and form a relationship so you can be guided competently. This pre-planning could help you avoid lots of the pitfalls that folks run in to because they are forced to file in a hurry.

The short answer is to get married whenever you want. There are certain things that are more important than bankruptcy. Among these are marriage, divorce, birth of children, and the death of relatives. As long as you keep in mind that your bankruptcy reflects and reacts to your marriage not the other way around, you should always marry whenever you wish. Now, on to how your marriage might affect your bankruptcy. Probably not a whole lot if you remember that the bankruptcy paperwork is a photograph of your life at the moment you file the case. Presumably, you are already living together or to a certain degree have a single economic unit. Pre-marriage, his income comes into the bankruptcy estate as “assistance from friends or relatives.” Post-marriage, his income comes in as community property because you are in California. Same thing is true about his expenses before and after marriage. The question to ask is, “Are you ONE economic unit?” either now or later. There are many times that answer is NO, either with a pre-nuptial agreement or the like; however, most of the time, the answer is YES, “what’s mine is his and what’s his is mine.” The petition should reflect the entire picture, all your stuff, all his stuff (listed as his but in your house), all your bills, [none of his prior bills], all your income, all his income, all your expenses, all his expenses. Waiting till May for tax reasons might be a little misplaced. Federal Taxes are due January First of each year for the preceding year. You have until April 15th to file and pay them, but for bankruptcy purposes, a case filed on January 1st, 2013 can include and pay the 2012 taxes over the life of the case. Here is the kicker that is hard to answer: the issues of “Good Faith,” “Means Test,” and “Debt Limits” A Chapter 13 is an agreement between you and the creditors that you will do your very best to repay your debt and that any money left over in your pocket at the end of the month will go to them (the creditors). Spending large sums of money on a wedding just prior to filing bankruptcy or just after filing bankruptcy might appear to be at the expense of the creditors and consequently might appear to be in Bad Faith. If you get married before you file the case and wait 6 to 12 months, you might overcome some of the Bad Faith / Good Faith issues; however you could end up creating other problems with the Means Test based on adding his income or with Debt limits based on adding his bills. If you get married after you file the case, you will probably have fewer issues with the Means Test and Debt Limits, but you might raise a Good Faith / Bad Faith objection based on spending money on the wedding instead of contributing that money to the Creditors.