In a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, how does one list income garnishment?

List the garnishment on the Statement of Financial Affairs under 4b. Don't worry about it on the means test since you're using the gross amount for that 6 month average anyway. I don't list it on schedule I because it'll be stopping when you file for bankruptcy and that looks at your current income and takes into account payroll deductions and garnishments that would be ongoing. If the garnishment is over $600 during the 90 days prior to bankruptcy I list it on schedules B & C so that I can recover it.

I assume you are talking about the means test. That is only gross income for the past six months and does not include any expenses/deductions unless you have to rebut the presumption. A garnishment does not show up on the means test even if you are attempting to rebut the presumption. Do not confuse Sch I & J with Form 22A. Visit with an attorney. A bankruptcy attorney has software that will run all the calculations for the means test, no point in doing it manually.

Your garnishment does not belong on Schedules I and J or Form B22 of your bankruptcy filing as the bankruptcy will end the garnishment. It may need to be disclosed elsewhere on the filing (I.e., the Statement of Financial Affairs).

The garnishment info should go on the Statement of Financial Affairs. You should notice the people garnishing of the BK since they are now stayed. Do not consider the garnishment when completing the Means Test, however.

The "means test" goes by gross income so garnishments are disregarded.

What is the garnishment for? If it's a debt that will be discharged in the bankruptcy, then you don't account for it in your schedules since this debt won't exist. I know this is counterintuitive because B22 form looks backwards in time, but that is how it works. There is no place to specifically put a garnishment on form B22. If however, the garnishment is for non-dischargeable debt like family support or past due income taxes (some taxes are dischargeable and some aren't depending on some facts) then you list the full amount owed on Schedule E and then on B22 line 43 you list a calculated amount. The formula is total amount owed divided by 60. Are you certain you have to fill out the entire B22? The answer depends on whether you qualify for exemption and (and this is the most frequent exemption) whether your CMI is below the median. Make sure you calculate the CMI correctly as I've seen mistakes here by people who started out trying to do this on their own and then gave up and brought to the me forms they completed. If you are above the median then it would be a good idea to retain an attorney to help you pass the Means Test as here again people without experience in this area of the law tend to misunderstand the deductions available to them. Can I just say that filing on your own without assistance of counsel is not just nerve wracking but could be dangerous. Even attorneys who practice other types of law will typically hire a bankruptcy attorney to represent them. As you no doubt already discovered the petition is quite long and detail intensive. Someone who does this on a regular basis can navigate this process without mistakes and problems. Having said that, if you go forward on your own, I sincerely wish you the best of luck and I hope the information here helped.

You list your net take home pay without regard to the garnishment.

You would not list the wage garnishment unless it is for child support, alimony or some other debt that would not be affected by a bankruptcy filing. I can almost guarantee that if you think you are able to file bankruptcy yourself, you will mess up on something that you didn't know to ask about.

The Means Test is the only form that asks for income specifically for the 6 months prior to the month of filing, so I'll presume you're referring to that. It clearly states "Gross wages..." etc. Therefore a deduction such as a garnishment would not be relevant to that line ("Gross" means total before deductions, "Net" means after deductions). There are other areas in the documents where the garnishment would be relevant, such as the Statement of Financial Affairs. I would highly recommend consulting with an attorney if you have not. It sounds like you're trying to file a case that was overdue, but now an emergency because of a garnishment. But there are so many potential pitfalls to filing without counsel. It may even be that a Chapter 13 would be better for you and can have essentially all of the legal fees paid through a plan so you don't have to worry about paying an attorney prior to stopping the garnishment.

Actually, while practices may vary from one jurisdiction to the next, here in Colorado we are not permitted to include deductions for wage garnishments in the means test because they will not be continuing in the future. If you are permitted to deduct where you live then the deduction would only be for the actual amount withheld averaged over six months. This is because the garnishment will stop as soon as the case is filed and will not affect your ability to pay your other obligations moving forward. I cannot encourage you strongly enough to hire an experienced lawyer to assist you with your bankruptcy filing.