New here and here/s my scoop and ???

[doglover]

Hi everyone and I am SO glad I found this site. I'll try to make a long story short...... When I was single in 96 I filed Ch. 13. It was dicharged in 2001. I'm married and in an even worse "rut" now...we are 4 months behind on mortgage about $25,000 debt, not including house and cars (sig. loans, pay day loans, credit cards, and furniture store credit card). Well, we don't qualify for Ch. 7 but attorney said Ch 13 will work out for us to get us caught back up with mortgage etc.... Here is my worry (please help if you can)

My husband had his own business but had no gain all loss and our 2006 taxes show that. He no longer is in business and is a full time student now. But still has his tax Id number and sorts. He was in business for about 9-12 months. Never really took off if you know what I mean . Will the trustee tell us we can't file bankruptcy because of that? I work full time, make about $48,000 a year. Will the trustee tell him to go to work to pay off our debt?

Will the trustee say we don't have enough debt?

I'm so tired of losing sleep and fighting with my husband over our situation. I'm actually sick to my stomach even thinking about this banruptcy not actually working for us. IT HAS TO GO THROUGH !!!!! We have no other option/

Thank you for any help you can provide.

[SinkingFast]

When in 2001 did you complete your Ch 13??

New Law requires 6 years to pass after the completion of a Ch 13 in order to be able to file Ch 7. If you aren't already there, time wise, you're getting close. Maybe you could possibly hold off filing for a bit longer??!!

Another thought for you,........... If most, if not all the debt is in Hubby's name, Hubby could file alone, separate of you. Since it sounds like Hubby isn't working, Hubby would have to claim a portion of your earnings for his support and maintenance, but your whole income would not be used as the basis for Hubby's BK.

Also, we could help you better if we knew what State you live in.

Trustees aren't supposed to be concerned with how you got into debt or why you cannot pay. Many Members here are SAHM's and they weren't told to go out and get a job. Many are, or recently were, full time Students. Haven't heard anyone say the Trustee said they can't Discharge their debts because they don't have a job.

[SinkingFast]

Just saw Texas in your ID.

Median Income for a family of 2 in Texas is $48,849/year. You're close on Income, but there are other considerations.

Try this Means Test Calculator and see how you come out:

http://www.legalconsumer.com/means-t...ator/index.php

[doglover]

Thank you for your reply.

My last BK was discharged May 14th 2001. I live in Texas. And very good point about SAHM. I never even thought of that! YOU ARE SO RIGHT! Honestly all the debt is in both of our names. He has credit cards in his name and I have the same ones in mine. One car loan in his name and one in mine. Both on house, both on all signature loans, etc.... DO you think we will run into any problems? Our signing with the attorney (I guess it's the actual filing day is Sep. 13th and then attorney said in a month or month and a half later we'll meet with trustee. This BK is so different from the one in 96 I did. Thanks again .

[doglover]

Oh one more thing, attorney said we didn't qualify for Ch. 7 because income. They add in my husbands VA montgomery GI Bill $ for school he get's monthly and my VA disability. With that we make close to $70k a year, 4 in total household.

[SinkingFast]

I take it you've already retained an attny, paid the pre-filing portion of the Ch 13 fee, and are just waiting to file??

Did you happen to chat with any other BK attnys to see what they had to say about your current situation?? If not, you might want to.

You're beyond the time for repeat filing under New Law. With your income so close to the Median, you might just be able to squeak by getting a Ch 7.

Nothing is said and done until you sign the Petition and the attny actually files your BK. Maybe you wanna take a step back and reassess your situation.

Unless,............. You're filing to try and save your home or something like that.

[SinkingFast]

Oh one more thing, attorney said we didn't qualify for Ch. 7 because income. They add in my husbands VA montgomery GI Bill $ for school he get's monthly and my VA disability. With that we make close to $70k a year, 4 in total household.

Ahhhh!! That makes a HUGE difference. Median for a family of 4 is $59,369/year. So you're about $10K over.

But still, there's been Opinions rendered allowing contractually liable Secured debt. Even if your Surrendering your house, you'd still get to claim your current house payment on the Means Test.

[doglover]

I don't mind filing Chapter 13. We are 4 months behind in our house payments and I talked with 2 other attny's. 1 firm was going to charge us $250.00 up front (just to talk with us) with no first free consult and actually he seemed like a big flake anyways. Second attny told us we should sell our home. So I found this attny who only deals with BK. I like them alot but since I paid the fee's already and there is no refund I feel like they may not be telling me something, ya know. I think maybe I am just paranoid. We already took the prefiling credit counseling class too. We are ready! lol

[southernbelle]

I don’t mean to poke my nose in where it doesn’t belong especially since I am still in the gathering info. phase prior to filing, but I took the Means test on www.Legalconsumer.com and even though I have a family of one with an annual income of $53k per year (in Louisiana) and the median is around $36k, when I take into account the allowable deductions, taxes, etc, the Means test calculator says I would qualify. Not only that, but the final calc’s showed a negative amount of disposable income of about -$3k. Most people just look at salary alone. Am I completely wrong in trusting what this test is showing me (I know I need to file before I know for sure)? And another stupid question, what is a SAHM?

[Dirk Squarejaw]

Am I completely wrong in trusting what this test is showing me (I know I need to file before I know for sure)? And another stupid question, what is a SAHM?

From what I have gathered, the Means Test is only the beginning if you are over the median and pass the test. Then, there are two itemized schedules you must complete and those will tell the tale.

SAHM= Stay At Home Mother