Paying out of Ch. 13?

[BKBlues]

Is paying out of a chapter 13 really an option? My lawyer told us we had to make payments for three years...regardless. We are looking at near two thousand a month, plus the trustee takes all of our tax returns for three years. The end result of Bk for us is paying near 100%, is that unreal or are we getting screwed? If we could afford to pay 100%...we wouldn't have filed in the first place. I'm in financial prison...what do I do?

[StaciMM]

These are things you probably should have considered before filing. What situation led up to your filing, how far along are you, and has anything changed (income or expenses) since starting the process?

Since you said 3 years, I assume you have already filed under old law. The idea behind 13 is that all of your disposable income goes into the plan for X months. When those months are up, you're done & free of those debts. (That's a very basic definition of course!)

[Genenco]

Is paying out of a chapter 13 really an option? My lawyer told us we had to make payments for three years...regardless. We are looking at near two thousand a month, plus the trustee takes all of our tax returns for three years. The end result of Bk for us is paying near 100%, is that unreal or are we getting screwed? If we could afford to pay 100%...we wouldn't have filed in the first place. I'm in financial prison...what do I do?

Personally I'd consult another lawyer..If they aren't willing to fight for you, what the hell are you paying them for?

[BKBlues]

No changes

Nothing has changed since we filed. We filed because too many banks were trying to sue us and threatening to garnish, lien, etc...We had been in debt counseling and settlement for over a year...Obviously, not working. We had huge medical debts and some credit card debt as a result of our multiple family illnesses. Bk was a LAST resort, but when we filed things were still very ambiguous to me. Questions I didn't even think to ask when we filed have come up...like "paying out of a 13". We were forced into the 13 because of income, but our debt was more like a 7. According to our attorney our budget is maxed out and that was the end of discussion. Bk confuses and scares me on a daily basis.

Thanks for the reply.

[todowd]

You situation sounds very much like mine. I thought bankruptcy was the answer but found it to be a nightmare. I was one year into a chapter 13. My lawyer did not explain the details of bk to me very well. She gave us lots of papers to read but the realty is they were more confusing than helpful.

After getting deeper behind under bk I finally decided to quit and take a chance with my creditors. Well that did not work either. So I found a new attorney and filed a new bk 13. This attorney listened to me. I learned a lot from the first bk that helped me not to make the same mistakes twice. My bk payments are now managable and I am only paying secured debt. My new attorney got rid of all the unsecured debt. It is still not a walk in the park. It's hard and you have to live on a budget but I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I am 2 years into my bk with only one year left. I still pray I make it. I have learned a lot -- like how it's better to live on a budget than to borrow money. I should have already know this but sometime it takes a hard lesson to learn life's lessons.

GL