Where to start...

[babs]

Here is the long and short of my situation....advice from any would be much appreciated...

Chapter 1
In the beginning
*** My husband has (still as of today that i know of [he just filed chpt 7]) a severe gambling problem. This means that I am the provider for the family. He lives here for basically free, pays not even the food bill for our household, and contributes less than $500 a month for expenses. I was planning on filing for a dissolution this past October...then he hit me with " I owe my bookies 10K"..so i stalled on filing. I have a equity line of credit that i got to condense all of MY debt, it has enough cash left on it to pay for the attorney to file for the dissolution (which i plan on now doing in January come hell or highwater).

Chapter 2
His downfall has caused mine....
*** Because of his gambling problem (lost approx 50K over the last 6 yrs), the savings of 10K we had is now gone. I have begun to use my credit cards to make ends meet. I have not gone in to default with any creditor, but I can no longer keep up with the bills that are beginning to pile up. My daughter is ready to go have open heart surgery, and now....with THOSE bills just starting to roll in, it has put an even larger strain on my finances.

Here are MY financial stats so to speak...

My car is paid off free and clear, the title to our home, along with the mortgagte are BOTH in ONLY my name. All of his(now cut up and destroyed as he has filed Chpt 7 two months ago) and my credit cards are our OWN separate. The debt i have is:

home loan-127K
equity loan-20K (with bout 2K still open to spend)
credit cards(4)- 22K


Now I pose the questions I have:

1) Which form of Bk (as i have seen it called on these forums) would be the best for me? I read all of the info in regards to both of them you have posted here.

2) Because I have NOT YET been late on any payment ( house or CC ), should i just stop paying them? My home loan is automatically deducted every two weeks from checking acct, as i do not wish to go late on those payments more than any other.

3) I have used my crdit cards to basically pay for Christmas gifts for my two kids, should i stop any kind of activity on them totally?

4) Because my vehicle is paid for (one of the debts i had and got the home equity line of credit for to pay off), can that be taken away?..without that i cant get to work to pay all these bills..lol

5) Can i lose my home, and what happens with the equity line of credit?

6) Has anyone felt as hopeless as I am do this time?


There are so many factors in my situation, these are only a few..unfortunately. I am feeling very much stressed over all of this..plus this time of year does not make it any better. I ask myself over and over... if I did NOT file for Bk, would i ever reasonably be able to pay back all of my creditors before i die? and the resounding answer is...... NO!!

[Dawn1970]

Hi Babs,
So sorry for you troubles. I hope and pray all goes well with your child's surgery. I'm not in the legal profession, but after going through a Ch 7,much of which was brought on by my child's medical bills, I would like to take a shot at some of your questions. Bear in mind I'm not a professional.
#1) With CH 7, you do get a clean slate and walk away owing no one (there are few exceptions, such as legal fines and student loans) but you'd have to give up the house and find a place to rent. If you file Ch 7, wait until after your child's surgery, so that any costs related to this can be discharged. If you file a 13, basically you get to keep the house but the court will determine how much debt you have and you will be allowed to make one monthly payment that the court will divide among each creditor as they see fit.


#2-3) If you're going to file a #7, go ahead and stop paying the house payment. Even if you're filing a #13, you can miss a payment or two. Stop paying on the credit cards for at least a good 3 months before you file. And naturally, don't attempt to use the credit cards since they will soon become delinquent.

#4) I think they let you keep at least one vehicle because you need one, of course. Some of the legal minds on here can hopefully clarify that for you. Moderators?

#5) If you file #7 I'm sure you'll probably lose the house. #13 allows you to keep it. As far as the home equity loan, it's just like any dischargeable debt- if you file a #7 they can try to get what they can from the proceeds of the sale of your home. What they don't get from that, they eat the loss and you walk away discharged. If you file #13 you get to keep the house but the home equity creditor will simply be one of the creditors your monthly payments go to.

#6) Ohhhhhh Yes that feeling of helplessness sounds very, very familiar and yes, especially this time of year. The thing is, much of this stuff is out of your control. You have done your best but things ocurred that you couldn't control or stop. Don't let it ruin your Christmas. :o Whatever happens will happen and fretting over it won't change the outcome so try to relax and enjoy the holidays.

I don't know if I've been any help but I just wanted you to know you're not alone! Please message me if there is anything I can do to make this easier for you.