How can some of you guys afford a Lawyer??? I just have to know???

[freshstart06]

Even with our income being a little over the median, with 4 kids and just regular household expense there just is no way we could afford a lawyer. We don't have massive CC debt, we do have car notes and medical bills. There is not way I have an extra $1500-$3000 to pay a lawyer, that money can go to a bill or expense, I don't have any CC debt to stop paying that would even allow me to save that kind of money.

So my question is with some of you guys that are under the median and have household expenses that you have to pay how do you come up with the money??? Doesn't that mean there is some disposable income some where???

Unless we are doing something wrong I have no idea where the extra money comes from. I can't stop paying my utilities, I have to pay my car notes, I have to pay rent, I have to pay for food, I have to take care of my kids, etc. after there is really no money left. There use to be a little when I could work but now I can't for a while. Paying a lawyer will just take away from my family.

I am sorry to ask this but this question has been eating me up ever since I "had" consider a lawyer. I had to use a paralegal -$200, prepaid legal services - $19, lots of reading and lots of question from a lawyer friend of mine -$priceless. I just found out that there are some trustees we can call for questions as well. If this works out great, I would suggest that people who truly do not have the money to go this route oppose to taking away household money. But then again we have no assets and I think if you have assets then it is wise to use an experience lawyer, is this correct???

I can honestly say is that right after we filed it was like a huge cloud lifted over me. I know we still have the meeting but I am not worried because numbers do not lie and we can back everything up. It is amazing how something I was ashamed of, something that made me feel like a failure has finally made me feel better. Still get a little stressed but not as much.

[BKOnce]

Payment plan would do.

[freshstart06]

Yeah, the payment plan that was offered but you have to put X amount down and X amount to pay down. They will not file until the fee is completely paid and what if you have an emerency and must file right away??? Then what about those lawyers that state you can do chapter 7 but come back and state you must file chapter 13 that is another fee but all along you could have really did chapter 7. This happened to a friend of mine. You lost out in so much money and was forced into chapter 13 when all along she could have done chapter 7 (she finally converted)

I just wanted to make sure I was correct that if you don't have assets a lawyer is not really needed???

Heck, our money so tied up there was no way we could have done any type of payment plan. That money still will be taking away from the house.

[keepmine]

I gotta be a little blunt here.
A bk is not going to be more than a temporary fix unless you and your spouse figure out a way to uncrease the HH income. What happens if you have an emergency post bk? How will you cover it?
I'd suggest your spouse start a pt job in the evenings or on weekends as soon as possible {if it won't affect the mmedian income calculations}.

Are you still paying on any debts you wish to discharge?

[freshstart06]

Keepmine, I was thinking of that, getting a little small job to help increase the family. We had two incomes until I got injured but I plan on going back to work this should help out a little, however my Husband has experience as a Loan officer as well and He was thinking of closing loans part time, this will at least take us out of the negative.

The bk will help us get rid of the debt we can't pay but the rest is up to us. As soon as I am able, I will get back to work and kick butt, we have got to get out of this hole. I am just waiting until I am completely healed which will most likely be after we close on the BK. I don't want any problems that will prevent me from working after I am all healed up.

[JRScott]

Well I used my income tax return which covered more than half of the lawyer fees. The rest I used money I didn't send for my computer payment and credit cards. Cut back on food etc for a little bit.

[keepmine]

Yeah Freshstart, that's what I did.
A few days before my disharge, I got a phone call from out of the blue. I had applied for a jonba few months before I filed and was apparantely the first runnerup. The guy they hired didn't workout so they called and asked if I was still interested.
I got the job and a few months later, picked up a PT job working overnight at a major retailer 2 nights a week. They've been good about scheduling me for at least 1 and sometimes both nights in the Friday-Sat. slot. This year, I'm gonna take some of my vacation from my real job and work some 3 or 4 night weeks during the holiday season.
Ya just do what ya gotta do!

[BKTango]

We just used the money that normally went to the debts we were discharging and paid a small down payment to the lawyer then paid the rest out in installments. The way we looked at is we had been eating like crap and not doing anything entertainment-wise, not buying stuff, and just being a broke family for so long to pay the creditors, we just continued that behavor until we paid him off. A few more months of not eating the best way, and not doing stuff was a small price to pay inorder to have an attorney for us. It wasn't looked at as disposable income because I was taking out of our food/entertainment/misc budget money off of the schedule J. Now when we finished paying him, we started spending the money we allowed for food on the schedule J, on food. You can use your entertainment money and some of your food money or any budgeted money to pay for an attorney, that's your decision to make. That's how it was explained to us.

If after stopping payments to all debts that are being discharged (cc's, medical, etc.), you still are not making ends meet then you need to consider your families budget and the possibility that with your medical needs, you may not be able to continue to afford the vehicles the rent you are currently paying.

[Liaah]

I have to agree with BKTango.

We literally took one of my husbands checks and gave it to the lawyer. We had enough money left that week for gas only. I plan on doing that one week every month until he is paid.

I know it's tough, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

Also, if you are paying medical bills that you plan to discharge, you should stop paying those.

HTH

[freshstart06]

I forgot about the medical bills, I am still paying them because I thought that if I put them in BK they will not treat me again...

This is all so sad, my husband alone makes good money if you go by the gross income, not net. Then we suffer because he owes at least a lot in taxes at the end of the year, however, if we pay the taxes up front then we barely have a check. Thankfully, we found a much cheaper place to live and when things pick up for us we can at least stay at water level.

I hate being broke like this. This time next year I hope all of this is just a bad memory. LOL

[chpxiii]

I filed Chpt. 13. My lawyer fees were rolled into my payment plan. I didn't pay anything up front.

[demismom]

We used our tax return.

[lrprn]

Here are some ways people find to pay a lawyer to file - scroll down to the 6 Places to Look for Cash - http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/...de/P129758.asp . Some good ideas here (except for cashing out retirement funds - very bad idea unless you were in Hurricane Katrina and won't get charged for the taxes).