View Full Version : Seriously Considering filing Bankruptcy


DFWMC
Hello All,

First off, wecan't afford Lawyer...second; we know we will not use this as legal advice(s). This is only for us to determine whether to file bankruptcy.

-We live in Southern Colorado

-I make approx 37k a year with about 5k overtimes

-We have 2 dependents

-Even though We're not legally married but consider as common-in-law marriage, my spouse does not work, she's on SSDI disability of about $550 a month but she attends school to gain employment in about 2 years or less

-We owe approx. $28,000 all in unsecured creditors (9 creditors)

-We also owe 12k on a year old vehicle (value is about 10k, so there's no equity)

-My name is in the house property that is on the market that I share with my mother who also 1/2 owners and I prolly will get nothing out of it or up to $5,000 all the money goes to my Mother who put up 15k in down payments while I did not. Also I don't live there anymore and I live in a apartment costing $1,300 a month plus I still have to pay half of the mortgage till it's sold (reason why because I agreed to do so as to the fact my mother lets me take out equity few years ago and that equity has merged into 1 mortgage after refinancing last year)

-Basically there are no assets (just normal home furniture’s, few TVs, a computer, beds for me, kids and M-I-L, clothing’s, etc...

-We also take care of my wife's mother at our apartment she's on social security with no other income she's on medical care from us (Oxygen, etc.) We are supporting her in some way financial (food, her IRS payments, clothing and some medical cost.

-We joined CCCS in October 2002 but we still struggled with payments Because we pay rent, plus less than half of the mortgage. And the fact that we didn’t realize that CCCS took some money from our payment plan for CCCS (about 50 or more, at this rate, we’ll probably can’t pay off for years and years to come, some of our creditors are still charging late fees!

-We pay over 1300 a month for apartment plus 800 for half of mortgage

-We pay almost 1000 for creditors payments (includes credit cards, Household
And car loan)

-(I don't know if Bankruptcy trustee needs this proof or not) We pay about $300.00 for my mother-in-law to take care of kids, e.g. taking them to school and home, feed them, etc.. while I go to work and while my Common-in-law wife goes to school 5 days a week

-Food is about 400 to 450 a month

-utilities over 200 not including cable TV

-Gas for car over 100 (I commute about 40 miles round trip daily)
And some other expenses that we can't think of right away like kid’s activities, museums (believe us, kids love those!!) etc. etc.

Between me and my C-I-L wife we bring home 2600 a month with no Overtime to 3500 with some OT (remember, my wife is on social security Disability so I'm the only one is working too much; I’m almost feeling burned out from working overtimes and might have to cut that out and spend more time with kids!)

What do you think? Think bankruptcy will discharge our debts based on Our situation?

For Filing, Can we pay just $200 for both of us for the filing? Or do
We pay $200 each person?

We plan to file ourselves, we can't afford bankruptcy lawyer for this!

Sorry if I don’t make sense or out of sentences because I’m really feeling upset and I’m just typing as my mind is going thru this. Thanks so much for your understanding.

Christine
A couple questions:

"-We pay almost 1000 for creditors payments (includes credit cards, Household And car loan)"

How much is the monthly to UNSECURED credit and did you BOTH sign for the unsecured credit?

DFWMC
Christine,

-We pay 425 to CCCS (for all unsecured creditors execpt 1 credit card)

-We pay minimum 10 (always do with 25 or more) on Bank of America Visa (that we intend to keep if we file for bankruptcy)

-We pay 315 a month for car loan (we still intend to keep this car for transportation purpose after bankruptcy)

-We also pay 175 for Household loan (the one you get check offer in the mail, if cashed, u start paying monthly payment)

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All is unsecured execpt the car loan (we don't know if car is unsecured or not, we applied at car dealer and got the loan right away more than a year ago)

-1 CC is jointly applied
-Household Loan is just my name
-the rest of the cards are applied alone, then added authorized user to the other)

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Can we both file bankruptcy together, do we both pay just 1 $200 filing fee even though we're not legally married but in the state of Colorado, it's regonized as common-in-law marrage

Thanks in advance for your answer, Christine or anyone else.



Originally posted by Christine
A couple questions:

"-We pay almost 1000 for creditors payments (includes credit cards, Household And car loan)"

How much is the monthly to UNSECURED credit and did you BOTH sign for the unsecured credit?

Christine
1) "-1 CC is jointly applied" - you do NOT owe the CCC, they did not write you a check.

2) "-Household Loan is just my name
-the rest of the cards are applied alone, then added authorized user to the other)"

There is absolutely no reason for your g/f to file for bk. Have her removed from the cards.

3) "First off, we can't afford Lawyer." Of course you can afford a lawyer. You've been paying $600/month for your unsecured debt.

$600 is about what a lawyer costs. First you schedule some FREE initial consultations. You have to be WELL PREPARED! Take your budget and all recurring bills, and of course the bills you want to discharge.

Do NOT file w/o an attorney.

Shylock
You can save some $$$ in filing for bankruptcy by preparing some of your own paperwork. Much of the paperwork filed (50 or so pages) can be automated. You can just sign up with ziinetplus2.com and put your information into their system and it will print the paper for you. Just have it reviewed by an attorney and you're good to go.

Ziinetplus2 costs around $199 so it ain't cheap.

On another note, you can go to lawyers.com and search for bankruptcy attorneys in your county. Many of them will answer an initial question or two over the phone at no cost in the hopes of enticing you to choose their services for your filing. Some even state a free initial consultation.