first time here & have lots of questions..

[seafresh]

hi folks...

lots good support here. it looks like 3-5 month process journey.
I have lots of questions to ask.
1. my current wife know about the BK and agree that I file ch7. we have been married about year now and she lives in another state, while I live in another state. Because of trying to sell my business for 2 yrs now. because of my high debt in business, i filed person bk ch7, majority of the business loans, cc were signed by me personally.
can they come after her even if she did not file??

just the start..

thx

sea

[ARO96]

I could be wrong, so please double check, but I think they can only come after your wife if her name is on anything that you are including in the BK.

If these are business loans and she isn't on it, I think you are fine. But if there are any credit cards or loans that you guys have joint, they can come after her.

[guzzie]

hi and welcome......my journey was almost 120 days from day i filed to day of discharge....
one more minor hurdle on the 15th of oct.....it should be over.....best of luck with the case and we are here to help!!!!!! guzzie

[lrprn]

Welcome to BK Forum, seafresh - glad you found us.

Some quick questions first...
- What state do you live in?
- How long have you lived in your state?
- Have you filed Ch 7 with a bankruptcy lawyer or do you intend to do it on your own without a lawyer (pro se)?
- Was your debt more than 50% from your business?
- Is your business closed or still active?
- How did you incorporate your business?

1. my current wife know about the BK and agree that I file ch7. we have been married about year now and she lives in another state, while I live in another state. Because of trying to sell my business for 2 yrs now. because of my high debt in business, i filed person bk ch7, majority of the business loans, cc were signed by me personally.
can they come after her even if she did not file??

I'm praying that you do NOT live in a community property state - http://www.fairmark.com/spousal/comprop.htm. If you do, creditors can come after your wife for half of any debt you accrued during the marriage whether she signed on it or not.

However, if you don't live in a community property state, then if your wife is a co-signer on any the debt, she is responsible for paying that part of the debt back the same as you were and the creditors will come after her for that money. If she is not a co-signer on any of the debt, then the creditors can't do anything.

Frankly I'm worried that you've already filed and don't know the answer to this question

[seafresh]

thanks to all and looking forward to gaining more information.
also to the others who are seeking or already filed BK...

seafresh

[seafresh]

Welcome to BK Forum, seafresh - glad you found us.

Some quick questions first...
- What state do you live in?
- How long have you lived in your state?
- Have you filed Ch 7 with a bankruptcy lawyer or do you intend to do it on your own without a lawyer (pro se)?
- Was your debt more than 50% from your business?
- Is your business closed or still active?
- How did you incorporate your business?

I'm praying that you do NOT live in a community property state - http://www.fairmark.com/spousal/comprop.htm. If you do, creditors can come after your wife for half of any debt you accrued during the marriage whether she signed on it or not.

However, if you don't live in a community property state, then if your wife is a co-signer on any the debt, she is responsible for paying that part of the debt back the same as you were and the creditors will come after her for that money. If she is not a co-signer on any of the debt, then the creditors can't do anything.

Frankly I'm worried that you've already filed and don't know the answer to this question

1. i live in WA for 7 yrs and she lives in CA ( yah both are community property. we married last yr Aug.
2. filed with lawyer
3. my debt is greater in biz(that is why I went BK)
4. biz is still operating with min cash flow. my lawyer told me that trustees will decide on the faith of my business..
5. biz incorp. incorp(s-corp) in Jan 2002 before that it was solo-prop. my ex and I sign franchise agreement.

re: spouse, we filed as single for 2006. we did not hide any money. we have all paperwork for proof if they ask.
my current wife and I have only sign joint checking acct, which we only had money for the rent down in LA.

hope this helps.. I wish I came across this board before filing... i did some research online.. mainly law firm website and state sites..

thanks ...

seafresh

[lrprn]

1. i live in WA for 7 yrs and she lives in CA ( yah both are community property. we married last yr Aug.
2. filed with lawyer
3. my debt is greater in biz(that is why I went BK)
4. biz is still operating with min cash flow. my lawyer told me that trustees will decide on the faith of my business..
5. biz incorp. incorp(s-corp) in Jan 2002 before that it was solo-prop. my ex and I sign franchise agreement.

I'm going to assume that you filed on your own without a lawyer (please correct me if I'm wrong). Because you live in a community property state, any income and any debt that your business accrued after your marriage last August belongs 50% to your current wife. Any income and any debt that your business earned while you were married to ex belongs 50% to her as well.

If you did file without consulting with at 3-4 business-experienced bankruptcy lawyers first, then you may well have created a financial disaster for both your current wife and possibly for your ex as well. And if you did file with a lawyer, that lawyer needs to be reported to the WA attorney general's office for legal malpractice.

Haul yourself to several WA bankruptcy lawyers RIGHT NOW to see what can be salvaged from this situation. You are going to have to pay more now, but it may be the only option to correct what you've done.

Have you had your 341 meeting yet?

I wish I came across this board before filing... i did some research online.. mainly law firm website and state sites..

We wish you had too, because we would have done everything possible to get you to NOT do what you did. But what's done is done.....we'll do what we can to help you sort out what's best to do now. But the bottom line is that you need expert legal help from an experienced bankruptcy lawyer who is familiar with how businesses impact consumer bankruptcy and fast!

[seafresh]

I'm going to assume that you filed on your own without a lawyer (please correct me if I'm wrong). Because you live in a community property state, any income and any debt that your business accrued after your marriage last August belongs 50% to your current wife. Any income and any debt that your business earned while you were married to ex belongs 50% to her as well.

If you did file without consulting with at 3-4 business-experienced bankruptcy lawyers first, then you may well have created a financial disaster for both your current wife and possibly for your ex as well. And if you did file with a lawyer, that lawyer needs to be reported to the WA attorney general's office for legal malpractice.

Haul yourself to several WA bankruptcy lawyers RIGHT NOW to see what can be salvaged from this situation. You are going to have to pay more now, but it may be the only option to correct what you've done.

Have you had your 341 meeting yet?

We wish you had too, because we would have done everything possible to get you to NOT do what you did. But what's done is done.....we'll do what we can to help you sort out what's best to do now. But the bottom line is that you need expert legal help from an experienced bankruptcy lawyer who is familiar with how businesses impact consumer bankruptcy and fast!

i filed with lawyer.
my 341 is Nov 1st.
what are my options or do i need to speak to my lawyer asap???

or go look for another lawyer>>

there is no way of filing petition because of wrongful representation by lawyer???
right now i need some advice asap.
dont have cash to hire another lawyer. my business is taking for worst here... his advice was for me to go bankrupt to cover my business liabilities which I have sign as personally.

i guess my time spent looking for new lawyer???

thx

sea

[lrprn]

i filed with lawyer.
my 341 is Nov 1st.
what are my options or do i need to speak to my lawyer asap???

or go look for another lawyer>>

there is no way of filing petition because of wrongful representation by lawyer???
right now i need some advice asap.
dont have cash to hire another lawyer. my business is taking for worst here... his advice was for me to go bankrupt to cover my business liabilities which I have sign as personally.

i guess my time spent looking for new lawyer???

So you are telling us that your lawyer never mentioned that filing Ch 7 alone in a community property state would shift half the debt accrued during each one of the marriages to each spouse?

Sit down with your current lawyer immediately to find out how he/she sees the community property impacting your filing. Your lawyer knows your case better than we can given the few pieces of information you've shared. If you don't get an acceptable answer, then understand that it's quite possible that you will have to fire your current lawyer before another lawyer will talk to you about this case.

This is definitely NOT the time to do something you can't undo easily later. Find out exactly how you filing alone has impacted your current wife and your ex first before you do anything else. Let us know what you find out.

[seafresh]

So you are telling us that your lawyer never mentioned that filing Ch 7 alone in a community property state would shift half the debt accrued during each one of the marriages to each spouse?

Sit down with your current lawyer immediately to find out how he/she sees the community property impacting your filing. Your lawyer knows your case better than we can given the few pieces of information you've shared. If you don't get an acceptable answer, then understand that it's quite possible that you will have to fire your current lawyer before another lawyer will talk to you about this case.

This is definitely NOT the time to do something you can't undo easily later. Find out exactly how you filing alone has impacted your current wife and your ex first before you do anything else. Let us know what you find out.

thanks again i will keep you posted.
majority of the debt for business is before the second marriage(90%), i have just surviving to try to sell my business but turn for worst with sales dramatically went down last 2 months, cause me to go behind more in business debt.

worst case is i can try to get family loan to pay off her side??

thx

sea

[CindyLou]

Seafresh,
Was any of the debt incurred between the two marriages, while you were single? Actually, can you break it down into the following percentages:
% Debt incurred during 1st Marriage = ____
% Debt incurred during 2nd Marriage = ____
% Debt incurred while single (either before after or between marriages)____
That may help sort things out a little,
Thanks,
Cindy

[seafresh]

Seafresh,
Was any of the debt incurred between the two marriages, while you were single? Actually, can you break it down into the following percentages:
% Debt incurred during 1st Marriage = ____
% Debt incurred during 2nd Marriage = ____
% Debt incurred while single (either before after or between marriages)____
That may help sort things out a little,
Thanks,
Cindy

for both personal and business.. 1st marriage=60%
2nd marriage= less them 5-10
single= 30%

on personal side, i was in repayment schedule with the cc companies for about 2 yrs now. paid off 1 card and working on large balance of $22K in cc. my credit was good until the businees turn sour and with divorce 3yrs ago.
business debt is stuff that i just carried over from yr to yr, hoping to get decent price for my business but things did not work out...

my current wife lives in CA and i live in WA.. those favor in anyways towards us or not????

i am not getting any sleep on this matter...

thx

sea

[Boscoe]

Seafresh: Did you file a business Ch 7? Since your debts are >50% business, you do not need to take any 'means test' and should be eligible for a ch 7.

Is this what happened here? And if this community property situation gets to be a problem, the best solution may be a joint filing with your current wife......

[seafresh]

i spoke to my lawyer and he told me that only they can come after is my $6K of my credit card that i took out back in april to help finance my business(purchases of the goods).

he told to me trust his experience. he mention that there will be very limited liability for my current wife.. they have figure out what debt was acrue in 1yr>> majority of the debt was acrued before the second marriage.

thanks to all for giving some advice.. but i think iam in ship that i will weather the storm..

seafresh