Means Test Calculations Not Helped By Borrowing From Debtor's ...

The means test allows debtors an deduction and income offset for secured debt payments. The greater amount of monthly secured debt payments the more likely a debtor is to pass the means test. One of my bankruptcy clients  suggested increasing his secured debt payments by taking out a loan from his 401k retirement account. He would use the money to pay down his home mortgage. There would be no fraudulent transfer or conversion into the homestead because the money would have come from an otherwise exempt asset- 401k plans are exempt in bankruptcy. He says that the loan would be secured by the balance held in the 401k. 

I do not think this plan will work for purposes of creating expense deduction for the means test. In the first place, the loan may not be considered secured because the debtor is borrowing from his own money. Also, monthly repayments of a 401k loan are not required. It is similar to a loan on life insurance. Interest accrues but there is no default if the borrower does not make monthly repayments. 

Therefore, borrowing your own money from a 401k, or a life insurance policy, is unlikely to help you qualify for bankruptcy under the means test.