Your Chapter 13 payment isn't a number you pick. It's the larger of two calculations: everything you're required to pay in full over the plan, and everything your disposable income says you can pay.
Most of the time the required items drive it. Mortgage arrears, past-due priority taxes, the secured portion of a car loan, and the trustee's fee are the bulk of a typical Los Angeles plan.
Start with the mandatory pile
These get paid in full regardless of what your budget looks like:
- Mortgage arrears, spread over the plan term
- Priority taxes, meaning income taxes too recent to discharge
- Domestic support arrears
- The secured value of vehicles and other collateral you're keeping
- Attorney fees not paid up front
- The Chapter 13 trustee's percentage, which comes off the top of every payment
Add those, divide by 36 or 60 months, and you have the floor.
Then the disposable income test
If your household income is above the California median for your size, you're in a five-year plan and your payment has to be at least your monthly disposable income as the means test calculates it. That calculation uses standardized expense allowances from the IRS, not your actual spending. Which is exactly as frustrating as it sounds when your actual rent is $3,400 and the allowance is lower.
Below the median, you're in a three-year plan and the math is more forgiving, though you can voluntarily go to five years to lower the monthly number.
| Household income | Plan length | What sets the payment |
|---|---|---|
| Below California median | 3 years minimum | Mandatory claims, usually |
| Above California median | 5 years | Whichever is higher: mandatory claims or disposable income |
A worked example
Say you're behind $36,000 on a house in Glendale, you owe the IRS $9,000 from 2023, and you have $6,000 of unpaid attorney fees riding in the plan. Over 60 months that's $51,000, or $850 a month. Add roughly 10 percent for the trustee and you're near $940. General unsecured creditors get whatever is left after all of that, which in this example is nothing, and that's fine. Chapter 13 doesn't require you to pay credit cards anything if the mandatory items consume the whole payment.
The trustee's cut is real money
The Chapter 13 trustee takes a percentage of every dollar that flows through the plan. Over five years it's often five figures. That's why paying a car outside the plan sometimes makes sense and sometimes doesn't.
“Clients are usually surprised that the unsecured creditors are the last thing I think about. I'm building a payment around the house and the taxes. The Visa bill is a rounding error in most of my cases.”
Naomi Reyes-AshfordThe liquidation floor
One more check. Your unsecured creditors have to receive at least what they'd have gotten in a Chapter 7 liquidation. If you have $40,000 of non-exempt equity in a rental property, that $40,000 has to move through the plan even if your budget says otherwise. This is the calculation that turns a comfortable plan into an uncomfortable one, and it's worth running before you commit.
Questions we get asked
When does the first payment start?
Thirty days after filing, whether or not the plan has been confirmed. Miss it and the trustee will notice quickly.
Can the payment change during the case?
Yes, in both directions. A raise can push it up. A layoff or a medical event can support a motion to modify it down.
Do I pay the trustee directly?
In this district most debtors set up wage withholding through their employer or pay by an online system. Wage orders have a much better completion rate, which is why trustees push for them.
What if my payment is more than I can afford?
Then don't file that plan. A plan that fails in month eight leaves you worse off than not filing, because you've spent the money and the arrears have grown.
What to do next
Get your mortgage reinstatement quote and your IRS account transcript. Those two documents drive most of the payment. Bring them to a consultation and we can sketch the monthly number in the same meeting.