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Hi. I have a few questions about Chapter 7.

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    Hi. I have a few questions about Chapter 7.

    Hi. I have been married for 15 years. I've been a stay at home mom the entire time. I have a severely autistic son, with an IQ of 70, and I take care of him. I do not receive SSI for him due to my dh's income. We were told he makes too much for it. Anywy, I want to file Chapter 7 on my own. It's strictly credit card debt with Capital One, Barclays, Merrick, and Discover. We live in NY and the house is and has always been solely in my husband's name, as is our one and only car. I have no assets to my name. We never put my name on the mortgage or car loans throughout the years because I have never had a job. Anyway, if I file I know I will have to use my dh's income, but will I also list his expenses such as HIS credit cards, dental and health insurance premiums, his car loan, the mortgage etc? His income is 42k salary a year, and we are a family of 4. I know we are way under the state's median for a family of four, but I believe they still look at the totality of expenses so I assume they will still want a monthly expense sheet? By doing some reading I now think it may have been a mistake cutting expenses to save money such as cutting our cable etc. We may need to have it put back on so that we don't have any disposable income. My dh has 13k in credit card debt and I have 12k. Now that I think about it, I may not even have any disposable income since I have been putting food and gas on the credit cards just to make it through each month. If I file I know I need to cut up the credit cards and eventually stop paying them. If anyone can give me guidance I would appreciate it. Thanks.

    #2
    It sounds to me like you need to figure out how to make this as strategic as possible. When to stop paying on the cards, when to do the actual filing, etc.

    Find a couple lawyers that do bankruptcy. Go see them. Get a free consult from at least two. But, before you do that...read everything you can from the nolo press on BK 7 in NY. In other words, go armed with very well informed questions. Be specific.

    There is a lot for you to learn.....begin with a google on "nolo press". "Chapter 7".

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      #3
      It sounds like you BOTH have excessive debt based on your household income, and depending on whether or not you can exempt your house and car, maybe you need to file together as a couple. I am not familiar with NY exemptions, but you can always meet with an attorney to discuss your situation. Keep in mind that you only need to exempt the equity in your house and car in order to keep them. That is the difference between what they are worth, and what you still owe on the mortgage and car loan.

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        #4
        Thanks for your responses. I appreciate them. My husband's income was $25k for all of our married life, well until 6 months ago when he got a promotion and a 60% raise to the $42k. I should have filed while he was at $25k but I didn't know he was going to be the one picked for the senior manager position. So many people interviewed for it, but he did get it and he's flourishing in the position.

        The problem is and believe me I am not complaining, I am thrilled for and proud of my husband and his hard work. The problem is ALL of our debt is from the lower income and using credit cards to supplement his pay. I don't want dh to file BK too. Im hoping by my filing that we shave off half the debt and then be able to pay off the other half over time. I know I am judgement proof so I could technically strategically stop paying the credit cards down the road and let them charge off, but I don't want collection calls day and night and then them start calling my neighbors too.

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          #5
          Filing for bankruptcy alone to "shave off half the debt and...pay the other half over time" is a foolish idea. If you file jointly, you can eliminate 100% of the debt, and use your husband's (modest) income to pay for living expenses going forward, pay down the mortgage, and save for your eventual retirement. Why continue to throw good money after bad?

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