In short
Schedule J is the other half of Schedule I. It lists monthly living expenses, line by line, then subtracts them from the income on Schedule I. What’s left is monthly net income.
That one number matters in both chapters. In Chapter 7 it shows whether anything is left over each month. In Chapter 13 it’s the starting point for what a plan payment can be.
Who files it
Every individual debtor, in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.
What it asks
Part 1: Describe Your Household
Whether it’s a joint case, your dependents (relationship, age and whether they live with you, but not their names), and whether your expenses include anyone else.
Part 2: Estimate Your Ongoing Monthly Expenses
Rent or mortgage, utilities, food, childcare, clothing, medical costs, transportation, insurance, taxes, loan and lease payments, support payments and more. The last lines work out monthly net income and ask about any change expected in the year after filing.
When it’s filed
It’s filed with the petition, or within 14 days after it. That’s the deadline Bankruptcy Rule 1007(c) sets for the schedules and statements.
Related forms
- Schedule I: Your Income (Official Form 106I)
- Schedule J-2: Expenses for Separate Household of Debtor 2 (Official Form 106J-2)
- Summary of Your Assets and Liabilities and Certain Statistical Information (Official Form 106Sum)
- Chapter 7 Means Test Calculation (Official Form 122A-2)
The official form
Official Form 106J is 3 pages long and is used in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases. This guide describes the 12/15 revision, the date printed beside the form’s title. The federal courts publish the form and replace it when it changes, so their page always has the current one.
BK Prepare’s questionnaire builds the list of forms for a case from your answers, and includes this one when it applies.