In Dallas-Fort Worth Texas a debtor filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy may have to take a means test which looks at the debtor’s average income over the 6 month period preceding the month of bankruptcy filing. In Texas, a single debtor filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy must not make more than $3,093 per month or $18,560 over the past six months before filing for bankruptcy if he/she wants to avoid taking the means test. This figure is for a household of one person, those figures change as the household gets larger. This income includes all taxable income regardless of your expenses. So, even if a debtor has a mortgage of $4,000 per month and other expenses if they make over the $3,093 per month income threshold, they will need to take the means test. The means test is a measure used to see if a debtor can file Chapter 7 bankruptcy without it being an abuse of the system.
If a debtor finds that they don’t quite meet the income requirement when filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, it may be advisable to wait a few months if you expect your income to decrease. The bankruptcy court will only look at the last 6 months of income before you filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.