Do I file Ch. 13 by myself or with my spouse? Also buying a car and maybe divorce -

[christeyanne]

Bear with me here. Just saw attorney on Friday. We don't qualify for 7, so Chapter 13 it is. The question is do I file myself or with my spouse. Combined our debt is $144k. $116k in my name and $27k in his name. We both make around $80-90k a year.

I just want to make sure I understand. Lawyer said if we do a combined Ch. 13 the max at 100% we'd pay with half of his fees and Trustee fees would be somewhere around $2,700ish a month, which he didn't think we would happen, just worst case scenario. If it was just me it could be somewhere around $2,200 ish.

1. He said my husband's salary would be counted towards my income in what I'd have to payback, but they would be able to deduct for my husband's credit card payments to cram down the $27k to his cards to get those paid off.

2. I mentioned to attorney I had read on here about getting 2 new cars, both our cars are over 10 years with 130k miles and literally falling apart. 2 days ago the muffler fell off my car, I cried. Lawyer told me he couldn't in all good faith tell me to go take out new debt on the eve of filing, but if we need new cars, we need new cars, buy something very modest. It kind of made me wonder if he knows something I don't know about the Trustees. I don't want to tick anyone off, but these cars we have WILL NOT last 5 years.

So question - I get me buying a vehicle now, because after I file I won't be able to, but should my husband too? If they are counting his income, wouldn't it make sense to add a car payment to bring up our expenses too? If we wait on his car, I just worry where the monthly payment will come from if his money is being counted in my repayment plan, right?

3. I also worry about our marriage lasting quite frankly. This debt was pretty much my fault, this way if we do divorce, I would guess the steps would be - divorce, sell house with Trustee approval, then I would have to modify my Ch. 13 right? Seems like if we filed together, it would be a lot messier to break up the Ch. 13, am I on the right track?

4. Would there be any upside to my husband filing with me?

Thanks, my brain hurts, can't believe we are in this position, I feel like such a failure. This forum is such great support, I feel like it's my support group – thank you all!

[woeisme]

My lawyer told me the same thing, couldn't recommend that I get a new car, but then later I realized that he was legally bound to say that, he's not allowed to tell you to get a car even though it is in your best interest. Get a car, both of you get cars that will last you through the next 5 years! That is absolutely the worst mistake I made, not doing that before filing!

Sorry about the divorce possibility, don't know how to advise you there. But good luck, and GET A CAR BEFORE FILING :-)

[Pjmax]

Also, I hope you are consulting with more than one attorney.

[AngelinaCat]

I second Pjmax's opinion. See at least three more attorneys. Some are more familiar with CH13s, and some are more familiar with CH7s. You don't want to go into a CH13, when a CH7 might end up being a better fit. Just my opinion...

[christeyanne]

Thank you all so much. I liked this guy I saw on Friday so was just going to go with him. Found him on that AVVO website, had good reviews. But you guys are right, was just online researching another attorney, we will definitely do that. Any other place to get reviews of attys besides AVVO? Is there a way to ask on here for recommendations or no?

[jmac]

I looked at it this way i could buy a car for 500 a month or give the 500 to the trustee and be stuck with a vehicle that wouldn't last 5 years with no money to fix it.

[AngelinaCat]

You can check the website of the Attorneys Association or whatever a similar list might be called in your area.

Also you can call the clerk of the BK court in your district and ask for a list of attorneys. They aren't allowed to make recommendations, per se, but chances are that you will get a list of the attorneys that the clerks like to deal with. After all they deal with these people every day, and know which ones are professional, courteous, well prepared, as well as the ones that are rude, ill-prepared, late, always having to correct mistakes, etc.

We only consulted one attorney, and retained her on the spot, because she seemed personable, and understanding of our situation. However, she did not educate us in the process of BK, with the result that we made many costly mistakes in the process of our BK, that we need not have.

We did not find this wonderful forum until well after the mistakes were made.

Good luck in your search.

[Pjmax]

The first guy might turn out to be the right one, but still consult with a few more. It was hard to find attorney reviews for my area and the ones I did find were questionable. I ended up Googling BK attorneys, and reading their websites, then Googling them individually to see what came up. You want someone that specializes in BK's. If someone advertises a long list of 'specialities', skip that one. Also, I would avoid large firms with a lot of offices all over the state that only do BKs. They are most likely BK mills. I ended up with an attorney in solo practice, just him and a clerk, and all he does are BKs. On my first visit, he handed me some sheets on which everything was clearly spelled out; what he would do or not do for the quoted fee, what services would be extra, what I had to do, etc. He was also a trustee, (not mine, of course,) so I figured he had to be knowledgable of the process in my district (he was.)

Take your time in this stage. Your choice of attorney will be THE most important step in your BK.

[dmc-2008]

If you can find out what your trustee name is in that area go to there website. Then if the publish their calendar you can find out who the judges are. Then you can look at the dockt for the judge and see who the lawyers are. Then you will see who is the most pOpular and getting confirmations.