Exemptions

• Certain items are exempt from being liquidated by the trustee in a Chapter 7 case, and that includes veterans benefits, child support and alimony, Social Security and unemployment. While exempt from liquidation, these incomes are used to determine the debtor's financial position.
  
  

Income

• Schedule I is designed to assess the income of a debtor. In the first section, if you receive regular wages, insert the amount of your gross monthly salary and overtime. Subtract payroll deductions to get your total net monthly take home pay. Numbers 7 through 13 require the debtor to enter other types of income, including veteran's benefits. It is entered on Line 11 -- Social Security or other government assistance. If you receive Social Security and veterans benefits, you can enter your veterans benefits on Line 13 -- Other Monthly Income.
  
  

Temporary Veterans Benefits

• Sometimes, the VA will only temporarily pay veterans benefits for disability, usually when a debilitating illness has been eradicated. If you know your veterans benefits are going to end within the year, complete Line 17 on Schedule I to explain that these benefits are temporary and why they are temporary.
  
  

Considerations

• You must provide all information regarding your income and liabilities throughout the schedules. The schedules, along with the means test, determine whether you qualify for Chapter 13 or you must file Chapter 7. If you do not meet the requirements -- you do not have enough cash left over monthly to pay the trustee's payments on your debts -- you might have to file Chapter 7 instead. Schedule I is used in both bankruptcies, but in Chapter 13, it shows the trustee how munch money is coming into the household. When used in conjunction with Schedule J (expenses), it determines whether you have the income to pay back some of your debt or if you must surrender personal property or real estate.