Will bank checks be part of my income and will adoption money be part of it as well?

First things first: retain an experienced bankruptcy lawyer. It's almost always worth the investment. It's not clear from your question what the bank checks represent. If one is a birthday gift from your aunt, it is not income. If it is payment for any goods or services, it is likely income. And you must disclose all income, just as you must disclose all your property and all your debts. If the checks are income, but are a one-off occurrence, your lawyer can explain the facts on the bankruptcy papers and directly to the Trustee. That should solve any problems.

All debt must be included in the bankruptcy petition. What happens to that debt depends on more details. Assuming you mean chapter 13 when you say chapter 13 and not chapter 7, the best thing I can say to you is do not file a chapter 13 without an attorney because the success rates statistically speaking for pro se filers doing a repayment/restructure type of bankruptcy are less than 2%. Since you will be hiring a lawyer they will review all the debts you have and the circumstances surrounding how those debts were incurred. Whether any particular debt is discharged can depend on type of debt, timing of when it was incurred, your intent as far as repaying it. This is a discussion you will have with your attorney before deciding whether and when to move forward.

Under the Means test, the general rule is that any new source of money that is not social security benefits, will be counted as income. (I am not sure what you are calling "Bank checks" so I have to assume it is new money to you.)

Your question is unclear. I'm not sure what you mean by "bank checks" as income. What is the source of the funds? That is the determining factor. Yes, adoption money is income. All cash flowing into the household, with few exception, constitute income for the purposes of completing Schedule I and Form B22. If you are uncertain, you might consider retaining a lawyer to guide you.

I have no idea what you might mean about bank checks. If a bank is paying you, it is part of your income. Next time you ask a question, try to provide more details.

Your income for determining your plan payments is your future income not your past income.

I am not exactly sure what you mean by bank checks and adoption money; however, all income should be disclosed and included in your filing. A bankruptcy attorney would be able to review the sources of money that you are talking about and make the determination of how it should be disclosed and included in your filing. It may be that the income sources you are referring to have to be disclosed, but will have no impact on your payment plan - commitment period/plan length or payment amount. Again, this is an issue that should be taken to a bankruptcy attorney.