11 Months to go...and an added medical expense..HELP!!!

[bam531]

Hi everyone..we are down to 11 months (or less) to go on our Ch13. Hubby had major shoulder surgery a week ago and has to have physical therapy 3 times a week for possibly the next 5 months. Here is the problem..we have to pay the $50.00 deductible each time he has therapy!! There is no way we can pay an extra $ 600.00 a month for the therapy when the trustee is taking $1,900 a month out of his check!! What should we do?? Will the trustee makes us start over with the Ch13?? Will she stretch this one out longer?? Would like to contact attorney and ask them what we should do..but I don't want them calling trustee until we know our options..

And here I thought "Ok, the next 11 months will go by quick..we have stayed under radar for 4 years so this will be a piece of cake"..Boy, was I wrong!!

There are no family members we can borrow the money from and since he will be having PT in different states ( due to his job) they are not willing to set up a payment plan ... Hubby does not know all this yet, because I know what he will say ..." Well, I just won't have the therapy"..and he has too or his shoulder will never be right.. Any suggestions??

[MSbklawyer]

Tell your atty you have additional extraordinary medical expenses. Have your plan modified to lower your payments.

[LadyInTheRed]

Would like to contact attorney and ask them what we should do..but I don't want them calling trustee until we know our options..

Never be afraid to contact your attorney when an issue like this comes up. Your attorney works for you, not the trustee.

[bam531]

Tell your atty you have additional extraordinary medical expenses. Have your plan modified to lower your payments.

Will that extend our 13 by lowering our payments?? Or is 5 years the max?? Only thing we had claimed as secured was house and 2 cars ( one car will be paid off in Jan 2012 the other car should be paid off in March 2012) the rest was unsecured.. ( do have a student loan) but in a 100% payback plan.

[markinva]

NOT getting therapy and getting better is not an option. Gather the medical documents and contact your attorney right away. He/she will prob charge to modify the payment plan but maybe not. Best of luck to you.

[Slingerland]

Thinking out loud to the attorneys: in this kind of situation, could a portion (or all?) of the OP attorney fees for getting the modification be rolled into the remaining months of the payment plan? With only 11 months to go, it seems the OP has a track record of making the monthly payments.

[LadyInTheRed]

Will that extend our 13 by lowering our payments?? Or is 5 years the max?? Only thing we had claimed as secured was house and 2 cars ( one car will be paid off in Jan 2012 the other car should be paid off in March 2012) the rest was unsecured.. ( do have a student loan) but in a 100% payback plan.

A plan cannot exceed 5 years. Your payment would need to be lowered. If you are in a 100% plan and are that close to paying off the cars, there should be room to reduce the payment and still pay the secured debt off. You will no longer be in a 100% plan. It is possible to include additional attorney fees in the plan, if your attorney will agree. Have you called your attorney yet? The sooner you do, the sooner you will have concrete answers instead of guesses from people like me who don't know all the details of your plan.

[bam531]

Thanks everyone for the info!! I am waiting on attorney to call me back today (hopefully). I have a list of things to ask him about. The only items that are secured are the 2 cars ( which will be paid off soon ) and the house ( which we will be continuing payments after this is over) and a student loan ( which will be continuing payments also) the rest is credit card debt and a couple of hospital bills. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't reduce our payments and change our payback percent. I am glad that 5 years is the max on a Ch 13!! That was our biggest worry..we were afraid that they would make us stay in it longer..so that's one worry off of me ( having a nervous breakdown here ..can ya tell?? LOL) Will let you know what we find out..Thanks again!!

[frustrated51]

[QUOTE=bam531;552092]Hi everyone..we are down to 11 months (or less) to go on our Ch13. Hubby had major shoulder surgery a week ago and has to have physical therapy 3 times a week for possibly the next 5 months. Here is the problem..we have to pay the $50.00 deductible each time he has therapy!! There is no way we can pay an extra $ 600.00 a month for the therapy when the trustee is taking $1,900 a month out of his check!! What should we do?? Will the trustee makes us start over with the Ch13?? Will she stretch this one out longer?? Would like to contact attorney and ask them what we should do..but I don't want them calling trustee until we know our options..

Just go to therapy once and ask the therapist for exercises he can do at home. Physical therapy is really just exercise. I broke my leg and had medical bills plus therapy. My insurance didn't cover any PT until the 3500 deductible was met so I went only until I could walk with crutches and then I did the exercises myself and joined a gym for weight lifting which was much cheaper than therapy 3-4 days a week. I may have been slower in regaining my strength, but I did regain it.

[MajorMike]

Exactly! You can do physical therapy from home. No reason you can't...

[MajorMike]

Im not able to edit my signature, don't know why. I only have 8 months of BK to go!

[bam531]

Well, still no call from attorney....but may not need to talk to them now. Physical Therapy has decided to charge insurance company first then we will pay what insurance doesn't. They will let us set up a payment plan ( which is good news) so that means we will not have to pay the co-pay every visit. Thanks everyone for your help!!