Do they count my Social Security income in Chapter 13 to determine how much I have to pay to the trustee? No, they’re not allowed to count Social Security, retirement, or disability payments in your Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. This is really important, because sometimes you’re going to want to use some of that Social Security income as part of your Chapter 13 case anyway, and that’s usually if you have priority tax debts, that need to be paid in full, or if you have too much non-exempt equity in your assets that you have to buy back from your creditors as part of the Chapter 13 process.

Although, they can’t make you give up your Social Security income, you can use that Social Security income to prove to the court that you’re able to make the payments.