PLease Help

[stressed07]

Here is the situation my husband visited with the attorney back in July 06 and decided to file BK. I was not going to file but we realized that we were so far in debt from trying to make ends meet that if we did not both file we were not accomplishing much. My husband is self employed and last years taxes showed a net income of $16,000 and this past year he started a new business which we barely make our living payments with now. I work part time making about $500 a month because I just graduated from school and studying to take my certification test. We are expecting our first baby in April, he has two small children from a previous marriage that we support also. After the baby gets here I will be able to go o work and make about $47,000 a year so that will be nice. We will be filing before I go to work again. The dilema is that in December while I was trying to make ends meet and pay bills I used my credit card for Christmas and to pay off some personal loans. So do we wait for 90 days to file or file and get this stupid thing over with it is about to drive me crazy. We have a house which the payment is current and no equity because we have only had it for a year. We both have new vehicles that were purchased last year with big payments no equity but current on the payments. Please help give me some advice someone.... I also have about $120,000 in student loans how hard is it to show financial hardship for these loans I mean the paymnet will be about $1000 a month, we cannot afford that with another baby on the way..

[no_it_all]

About the student loans....if you mean you would like to include the student loans in a BK...forget about that. BUT...you can put them in forbearance and not have to pay them for about a year...Call your lender and explain what is going on...they will bend over backwards to help you..

[stressed07]

They are in deferrment right now until June when the baby gets here and I start working. I just thought that you could try to include them if you could show an undue hardship by them. Any suggestions about when to file

[bige1030]

How much did you charge on the credit cards for Christmas? Debts are presumed nondischargeable if you charged at least $500 in purchases for luxury goods and services against a single creditor within the 90 days before filing or took out cash advances of at least $750 against a single creditor within the 70 days before filing. That makes it easier for creditors to object to you discharging their debt that way.

They can still object to you discharging their debt if they think you had no intention of repaying them before filing. They just have a higher burden of proof if that presumption isn't on their side.

As for student loans - you probably don't have a chance at discharging them, since you have a chance to earn your certification and work productively soon. The bankruptcy court can give you a discharge of your student loans based on "undue hardship" only if you can show that:

* You can't maintain a minimal standard of living for you and your dependents if you have to repay your student loans.
* Additional circumstances exist that the above is likely to persist for a significant portion of the repayment period.
* You made a good faith effort to repay the student loans.

See the Brunner case for this test.

[stressed07]

At christmas I charged alot so maybe we should wait awhile before filing we anticipated paying the card off after Christmas. At least $5000 in cash advances

[SinkingFast]

At christmas I charged alot so maybe we should wait awhile before filing we anticipated paying the card off after Christmas. At least $5000 in cash advances

If you'd been talking about a few hundred dollars to buy groceries or clothes, or pay utilities bills, that would be one thing. $5K is a whole different story.

That amount, I'd suggest waiting more like 6 months minimum. A year would be better. If you file right after the 90 days passes, chances are your Creditor is gonna Object and you'll wind up having to repay the $5K anyway.

NIA and Bige make a very good point about dodging your Student Loans. Unless your earning potential is severly hampered by a major disease or physical handicap, you're gonna have to pay the loans back.