In re Hernandez, No. 11-21090, 2012 WL 1067692, at *2–*3 (Bankr. D. Wyo. Mar. 23, 2012) (McNiff)

Applicable commitment period is determined as of effective date of the plan; stepchildren resulting from remarriage after petition but before confirmation are included in household size for § 1325(b)(3) purposes. At the petition, debtor claimed household size of three. Subsequent to petition, debtor remarried and new spouse brought two stepchildren to live with debtor. Debtor amended Form B22C, asserting household size of five. “This court finds the analysis of the Bankruptcy Code in [In re Anderson, 367 B.R. 727 (Bankr. D. Kan. Apr. 13, 2007) (Berger),] persuasive. The clear language of the statute reflects that upon the trustee’s objection of [sic] a plan under § 1325(b)(1), the Debtor’s applicable commitment period is determined, upon the effective date of the plan or its confirmation. . . . ‘In the “dependant” approach, the debtor must have reasons to provide support for a dependant and the claimed dependant must have a reason to rely on the debtor.’ . . . [T]he Debtor meets the standards to claim his spouse and stepchildren as dependents for the purpose of determining household size. The spouse and children have been living with the Debtor for one[ ]year; the parties have married; the children are minors; the spouse does not have an independent income source . . . ; both children and the Debtor’s spouse will be claimed as an IRS deduction in their joint return for 2011.”

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