Should I Consider This?

[danaf]

My mother in law offered to give me 10k to pay back the credit card that I took a 20k cash advance on.

I guess she offered after I told her that the lawyer said if I had any of it left it would be good (look good) to pay some of it back. I don't have any of it left. It is very generous of her. I guess she feels this way I could file sooner and be done with this mess.

Should I even consider this? I'm beyond the 79/90 day window but with a cash advance this large, the general consensus seems to be at least a year. It's throwing good money away but on the other hand, if there were any objections, it would look better than having only paid minimum payments.

Any thoughts?

[ohwell]

I think there may be an issue re: you receiving money like that within a year of filing is a gift and if paid towards a credit card might raise a red flag? If your relative paid the card herself, I don't know how that would look since you didn't handle the monies yourself, that may be better for your situation. We had monies from family around 8 months prior to filing, but they went directly for medication, so the trustee didn't raise any eyebrows.

Do you have an atty? If so, I would definitely run it by the atty.

[jp2861]

That's an interesting question. I'm looking forward to seeing responses. Chances are good that it may be looked at as a preferential payment to that one creditor. The first thing that came to mind was to wait as long as you can and then file. If that creditor does object to the discharge you may be able to use the 10K in some sort of a settlement.

[danaf]

jp - I asked the lawyer about that. She said it isn't considered preferential payment if you are paying back to the lender. I was somewhat surprised about that. But I guess it depends on whether it's within the 90 day window of when you file.

I'm probably stressing too much over this.

I asked a different lawyer about this today and he said no way - if your mother in law wants to give you money, keep this in the back of your mind for a deal, should you need to make one. This lawyer I like, but he is also very laid back. He said this particular creditor is pretty leniant but I take what he says with a grain of salt.

Oh, and then a 3rd lawyer I spoke with today suggested that I just pay the minimums on this one account for a long while which didn't sound right to me either. He also had the nerve to suggest a 13. Yeah right - NEXT.

I think, although not sure, that this gift would be factored into my income, thereby raising it. Of course I forgot to ask the lawyers about this point.

[jp2861]

Consultations are free, keep talking to more lawyers until you get a general concensus. Maybe the thing to do is make minimums for 6 months and then stop for 6 months, then file. After getting 3 totally different opinions, I'd be inclined to use up all my free consultations. Knowledge is power!

[HHM]

I wouldn't bother...it's a waste of money. Just keep putting time, make some "payments", but paying $10,000, no way.

Think about this...even if the creditor objects, you can probably negotiate a reaffirmation to have them reduce the amount down to $10K, and then get the money from your Mother-in-law after you are discharged to pay off the reaffirmation.

[WantToBeDebtFre]

Paying 10k seems like a waste to me. I'd rather wait more time or take my chances if you don't want to wait any longer.