Bankruptcy Means Test Calculation

Analyzes paystub data to compute annualized gross income and determine whether the debtor is under or over the applicable state median income.

Prerequisites

Collect before starting:

Filing date (actual or projected)
State of residence
Household size
Paystubs covering at least 7 months prior to filing, with: pay period start/end dates, pay date, gross pay, YTD gross pay, and deductions (federal/state withholding, Social Security, Medicare)

Workflow

Step 1: Determine 6-Month Look-Back Period

Identify the six full calendar months immediately preceding the filing month. Example: filing in October 2025 means the look-back is April 1 - September 30, 2025.

Step 2: Calculate Total Gross Income

Primary method (YTD subtraction):

Last paystub YTD before end of look-back period = YTD_end
Last paystub YTD before start of look-back period = YTD_start
Total gross = YTD_end - YTD_start

Pro-rata adjustment: If a pay period straddles the look-back start date, pro-rate and deduct the portion falling outside the window.

Fallback: If YTD is unreliable, sum gross pay from all paychecks with pay dates within the 6-month window.

Step 3: Annualize

Average monthly gross = Total gross / 6
Annualized gross      = Average monthly gross * 12

Step 4: Look Up State Median Income

Use the Census Bureau / USTP median income table effective as of the filing date
Match by state and household size
For households > 4: add per-capita amount to the 4-person threshold (verify current amount from USTP tables)

Step 5: Compare

| Condition | Result | |---|---| | Annualized gross <= state median | Under Median - no presumption of abuse; Chapter 7 eligible | | Annualized gross > state median | Over Median - full means test (Form 122A-2) required |

Required Output

6-Month Look-Back Period:    [start] - [end]
Total Gross Income (6 mo):   $XX,XXX.XX
Average Monthly Gross:       $XX,XXX.XX
Annualized Gross Income:     $XX,XXX.XX
State Median (HH size X):    $XX,XXX.XX
Result:                      Under Median / Over Median

Pitfalls

Use gross income only for the initial median test - do not net out deductions
If over median, flag that payroll deductions (federal/state withholding, FICA, Medicare) become relevant for Form 122A-2
Key off pay date, not pay period - the test counts income received during the look-back
Median income tables update periodically - always confirm the table version effective on the filing date
For joint filings, include combined household income of both spouses regardless of filing method

Key changes from the original:

Removed tags - not part of the Agent Skills spec
Tightened description - kept third-person, trimmed to essentials while preserving all trigger keywords
Flattened prerequisites into a compact list instead of nested sub-bullets
Removed redundant look-back example table - one inline example suffices; Claude can compute dates
Renamed "Process" to "Workflow" and "Guidelines" to "Pitfalls" for clarity
Removed the [VERIFY] inline annotation about the $11,100 figure - replaced with a clear instruction to verify from USTP tables (avoids baking in a potentially stale dollar amount)
Cut ~25% of tokens while preserving all domain-accurate calculation logic, pro-rata rules, fallback method, output template, and legal guardrails