(Unpublished) - In re Salvatore Trobiano, Jr., and Michelle Lee Trobiano, Bankr. Case No. 14-24635 (Bankr. D. Colo. Jun. 23, 2015)(Whether, as a condition of confirmation of their Chapter 13 plan, Debtors, one of whom is currently unemployed but who might obtain a job during the plan, are required pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1325(b)(1)(B) and Hamilton v. Lanning, 560 U.S. 505 (2010), to commit in their plan to turnover to the Chapter 13 Trustee annually one-third of their gross income in excess of their current gross annual income.)

After the Debtors filed their bankruptcy case, the Debtor-husband lost his job. The Debtors filed amended schedules I and J, reflecting decreased income and expenses associated with the job loss. They also filed an amended Chapter 13 plan, in which they addressed the job loss by including the following provision: "Within 30 days of Debtor-husband obtaining employment, Debtors shall amend Schedule I and modify their plan, as necessary, to pay all disposable income into the plan."

The Chapter 13 Trustee objected to the Debtors' plan on the ground that the "Debtors may not be committing all of [their] projected disposable income to plan payments" as required under 11 U.S.C. § 1325(b)(1)(B). The Trustee demanded that the Debtors include a plan provision that states: "Debtors will turn over the tax returns and year-end pay advices for every year of the plan. Debtors will turnover 1/3 of gross income in excess of $65,652 during the duration of the plan as well as income reporting commencing 2/1/16." The Debtors would not agree to do so.

The Court held that because the circumstances of the Debtor-husband's prospective employment and the effect thereof on the Debtors' income and expenses were unknown at the time of confirmation, the forward-looking approach endorsed by the United States Supreme Court in Hamilton v. Lanning, 560 U.S. 505 (2010) did not compel the inclusion of a mechanical income turnover provision as proposed by the Trustee. Instead, the Debtors' proposed provision requiring them to "amend Schedule I and modify their plan, as necessary, to pay all disposable income into the plan" was sufficient to ensure that all projected disposable income was committed to plan payments consistent with 11 U.S.C. § 1325. The Court held, however, that because the Trustee would have the burden of monitoring the Debtors' compliance with their plan, including the provision requiring them "modify their plan, as necessary," the Debtors could be required to amend their plan to include a provision mandating that they turnover tax returns and year-end pay advices on an annual basis. The Court noted that requiring turnover of such information is consistent with and reaffirms 11 U.S.C. § 521(f)(4)(B) and (g)(2), which requires that Chapter 13 debtors, on request of the Court, the United States Trustee, or any party in interest, file with the Court an annual statement of income and expenditures, including the sources of income to the debtors, and annual tax returns.