Any suggestions for me

[so_far_in_debt]

I am from Michigan and new to this forum. I divorced a couple of years ago and have been struggling to make payments ever since. I make good money but I ended up with a lot of debt from the divorce. I had a great credit score of 730 until 2 months ago when my credit cards maxed out not to mention the fact that my minimum payments went sky high over the past year until I was finally unable to keep up and got depressed and just stopped paying everything. I know I need to see a lawyer.

Where can I find these forms I am hearing about (I and J)?
Is there anyway to determine how much my payments will be?
I read some posts about people going to a number of attorneys to get plan estimates and going with the one who came up with the cheapest plan would you all agree?

I am just not sure what to do. I have a house payment that is $2300 oer month not including insurance and taxes. Would it be to my beneift to just let it go back to the bank as I have almost no equity in it and how would that work? I think it is called deed in leiu maybe. Is that worse than bankruptcy?

I guess I was thinking if I could get the bank to take the house back then maybe I could pay back the 70k I owe in unsecrued debt without having to file BK.

Thanks for any help

[Grace]

How was the credit card debt divided in the divorce? While it doesn't matter in bankruptcy court, you could sue your ex for their share in civil court depending on the details of the decree. If you don't have any equity in the house and can't afford the payment, how did you end up with the mortgage in the divorce?

[emoney]

Without any more information such as your monthy budget anything said is only a guess on what direction you should follow. why should you guess with the rest of your life.
BK may fix it for a few years, but only you can make any real difference over the years.
In this forum these is an excellent post on Lifestyle Changes to win financially we all must do.
Check out that post and do or post a budget and so real and long lasting help can be offered. Just filing BK is like taking asprin for cancer. So what would you expect a BK attorney to suggest but filing BK as that is the only way they get paid.
Regards,
emoney

[so_far_in_debt]

I took the credit card debt in the divorce settlement. When I look back I wonder what I was thinking and wish that I had sought some financial advice.
But that is all water under the bridge now.

The home loan was in my name during all along. But I had my husbands income to help pay the bills. My payment is 2300 not including 300 taxes and insurance. I make 2072 every 2 weeks take home for a total of $4,144 and I have a land contract that provides me with 339 month. My truck payment and insurance is $1050 a month. Truck my ex had to have and it was in my name. So after I pay those bills I have $833 a month to pay everything else.
I have been trying to sell my house for the past year but no bites as the housing market is down and I owe the bank 375K for it and have it for sale for 399K. I kept thinking the house would sell and then I would pay off the credit card debt but that has not happened and I just keep getting in deeper.

[Grace]

If you file bankruptcy on the CC debt, your husband will be liable for the balance.

Do you get alimony?

[BKTango]

"If you file bankruptcy on the CC debt, your husband will be liable for the balance."

How is this possible when she is divorced and she took the debt during the proceedings?

so_far you can file a CH 13 and payback your unsecureds, it will be at a lower payout than what you are/have been paying them. It would have been nice if your home would have sold because that is an awful large amount to be owing. I am not sure if you would be allowed to sell it during your bankruptcy or not. In some instances you have to get the trustee's permission.

You definitely need to set up immediately at leat 2-4 free consultations with some local bankruptcy lawyers, they will let you know exactly what you need to do.

[so_far_in_debt]

No I do not get alimony.

Maybe I should just move to Texas or Florida where they can't garnish wages and just live there until the statute of limitations expires

[Grace]

"If you file bankruptcy on the CC debt, your husband will be liable for the balance."

How is this possible when she is divorced and she took the debt during the proceedings?

Credit card companies don't care about divorce decrees. If she doesn't pay, they'll go after the husband. He can then sue her for defaulting on a civil agreement. However, if she files bankruptcy, he can't collect. That means he'll have to pay or file bankruptcy himself to get rid of the debt.

[SinkingFast]

Credit card companies don't care about divorce decrees. If she doesn't pay, they'll go after the husband. He can then sue her for defaulting on a civil agreement. However, if she files bankruptcy, he can't collect. That means he'll have to pay or file bankruptcy himself to get rid of the debt.

The Divorce Decree may have ordered one party to be responsible for certain debts while the other party is responsible for certain other debts.

In cases involving a Court Ordered payment via Divorce Decree, a Debtor/Filer may not be able to discharge some debt in BK.

Depending on what the Divorce Decree says may decide what So_Far can or cannot discharge in BK.

[lrprn]

SFID, please take a look at http://www.divorcenet.com/states/nat...bt_and_divorce - scroll down to the Bankruptcy and Divorce section. If you file bankruptcy, unless your divorce decree specifically stated what would happen if one of you filed bankruptcy, it is likely that the non-secured and secured creditors will go after your husband for the money no matter what your divorce decree says, and even though Michigan is not a community property state.

PLEASE make 3-4 appointments with bankruptcy-specialty lawyers in your area - most give free half-hour to hour consultations. You need very competent legal advice to ensure you make decisions that make sense for your situation. In this case with divorce complicating the situation, the cheapest lawyer is 99% of the time NOT the best lawyer for you. Ask friends and family who have used local lawyers for their lawyer's phone number, then ask their lawyers who he/she recommends for filing bankruptcy - you'll find the best ones in your area this way.

Hang in there - remember we're here when you have questions or need to vent. Please keep us posted on what you find out, ok?

[so_far_in_debt]

Thanks for all the responses. I have my first appointment for next Thursday.
I found the listing for this lawyer on the site of American Bankruptcy Institute.
This lawyer is supposed to be a certified bk laywer so hopefully he will be a good one.

[Grace]

No I do not get alimony.

Maybe I should just move to Texas or Florida where they can't garnish wages and just live there until the statute of limitations expires

This is one of the reasons the new bankruptcy laws were enacted so people couldn't take advantage of such situations.

[aa06a47]

The Divorce Decree may have ordered one party to be responsible for certain debts while the other party is responsible for certain other debts.

In cases involving a Court Ordered payment via Divorce Decree, a Debtor/Filer may not be able to discharge some debt in BK.

Depending on what the Divorce Decree says may decide what So_Far can or cannot discharge in BK.

SinkingFast hit the nail right on top of the head. My attorney made me bring a copy of my divorce decree with me for that same thing. She said if specific credit card debts were assigned to me, I would not be able to discharge them in court. If you have a copy of your divorce decree, take it with you on the consults. If you don't have a copy, you should get one.

[so_far_in_debt]

I have several papers that I have to bring to my consultation Thursday and one of them is my divorce decree. I also have been reading on my attorney's web site and it states that if a person was ordered to pay certain debts during the divorce they are not allowed to discharge them in BK so I guess that answers that question.

[Spartan]

If i were you, I would look into deeding the house back to the lender. Get rid of that money sucking truck ($1000 a month? Good grief!! Is it a Hummer?). And I would check if I can factor the land contract (which is basically a owner financed mortgage, from the sound of it). May be you can use that lumpsum and repay a big chunk of the CC, and bring yourself way ahead. And perhads you can also get yourself a more affordable car. And may be you can cash out the equity you have in the apt building, to pay down your CC. Given your level of income, there should be no reason why you have to end up in BK. All you need is some financial engineering.

Good luck.


P.S. Becareful not to get suck into filing BK by attorneys who may just want to line their pockets. It isn't like that hasn't happened before.

If you file for BK, you may end up giving up all those properties anyway.... Thus, if you make use of those properties to repay the cc, then perhads you may walk away w/o a BK on your CR.