Clovis, CA Bankruptcy Law Firms & Lawyers

You need to wait at least 8 years between the filing date of your previous Chapter 7 bankruptcy case and the filing date of the new case. Based on the January 2006 discharge date of your prior case, I assume that you filed your prior case in 2005. This would make you not eligible to file a new Chapter 7 case and get a new discharge until some time in 2013.

It is gross. If you are above the income limits, it may be possible to expand the means test to take into account the taxes you paid and still qualify for a Chapter 7. An experienced Bankruptcy Attorney will do that for you.

You are asking about what a trustee will take into consideration and this implies that you have already filed a Chapter 7 case. Trustees don't have anything to do with determining issues relating to your budget or the means test, which I think (although it is not clear) is what you are inquiring about. Just because your income for the 6 calendar months prior to filing is above the median income does not mean you won't qualify for a Chapter 7 case.  It's a very complicated analysis with numerous different factors being taken into consideration. If you are married, you must include all income, expenses, assets and debts of you and your spouse regardless of whether they are joining in the filing.  I'm not sure what you mean by "go down the drain", but your husband can continue his self-employment after the case is filed.  The key is going to be what assets he has from his business now (i.e. rights to residuals, copyrights, royalties, receivables, etc.) and whether those can be protected (which will depend on a number of factors, including the value of all your other assets, which state's exemption laws apply in your case and more). Bankruptcy is a very complicated area of law and your questions can only be answered after obtaining all the relevant information.   The bottom line is you need to have a consultation with an experienced bankruptcy attorney to go over all the relevant information (income, expenses, assets, debts) to determine what you are eligible for and which option is best.