Advice on my perhaps unique situation

[popobawa]

Good day all,
First let me say that I don't know much about bankruptcy. I looked around this forum a bit and understand a bit more but it is not something I have thought about before.
Here is the story of my life. I am now 30 years old. I have about $13,000 in student loan debt and $13,500 from an MBNA loan I took out earlier this year to pay off my CC debt. I owe about $450 total per month which isn't much here but since I graduated in 2000 I have been teaching English in Latin America. As you can imagine the wages are quite low compared to the US (to give you an idea I am considering a position working with poor communities in Nicaragua for a two year contract that would pay about $200 per month plus room and board). So I work anywhere from six to nine months abroad, run out of money paying my debt back home, have to return to my mom's house (bless her soul) work at some boring office job for a few months in order to save enough money to return south of the border. I would really like to live in Latin America in perpetuity but these debts won't allow it.
Since I work so little in the US I think the most I have earned here is something like $12,000 in one year. So I am well under the median income, I only own a 1984 BMW that is maybe worth a grand if you find a sucker, and I have about four grand in a Roth IRA.
So here are the questions: If I understand it correctly, a bankruptcy stays on your record for seven years. Then do you just start at zero again?; What are the chances of the student loan being canceled?; What would happen if I just stopped paying as opposed to BK?; Do you think that MBNA would bother sending someone to that 341 meeting?; Do I need a lawyer?; What other questions should I be asking?; Anyway, please tell me your thoughts in general.
I greatly appreciate your feedback.

[popobawa]

Sorry, I see it is ten years on your record not seven. I'm still browsing.

[FilingOnMyOwn]

You aren't going to shed your student loan debt as a capable individual. You can perhaps defer it, or unscrupulously transfer your student loan debt onto credit cards and then file later. The BK will stay on for 10 years, but if you live overseas I imagine your credit rating with the 3 american credit bureaus probably wouldn't matter. Little chances of creditors coming after you once you don't use credit for at least 6 months, and with no assets you wouldn't have anything to lose by not having an attorney. Do your homework and decide for yourself.

[keepmine]

Don't file bk over $13K. As mentioned earlier you have no chance of getting the student loans discharged.
This is one where, you grow up and get a real boring job long enough to pay off MBNA. It's just foolish to destroy your credit for years over a sum of money that can easily be repaid with a little effort.

[SinkingFast]

Check your "home" State's Statute of Limitations on payments to the CC's. Some States are as little as 4 years. Others may be longer. Once the SOL expires, you're "home free" as far as that debt is concerned. MBNA, or whoever, may sell it to a Zombie Debt Collector who will try and come after you years later, but legally they won't have a leg to stand on as far as making you pay.

You don't have any assets for them to attach. I can't imagine the CC's will attempt to garnish wages in a foreign country.

One thing to worry about,........... Are you on anyone elses Bank Accts, Car Titles, Deeds, etc?? Any property or asset of any sort that your name is on. Even as a second?? Like maybe you're on your Mom's Bank Account so you can pay bills when she's sick. If you are, get your name removed off all of it. Even if you have no assets for them to come after, they can tag accounts and assets that have your name on them. If you are listed as an hier in a will or the beneficiary to a life insurance policy, have that changed as well. No assets, current or future, that could be attached in any way.

As said before, you cannot dodge the student loans. You can apply to have them deferred or put into forebearance. But you'll eventually have to pay those off.