Will be filing soon and have some questions

[TX Bluebonnet]

Hi,

I'm married, but will be filing singly as soon as our tax refund arrives. The refund will be enough to cover the attorney's fee, the overdue property tax, and most of our auto insurance policy that we're about to receive a cancellation notice on since it was due a week ago. So, there shouldn't be any problem with our refund arriving and being spent like this right away, right?

I know I need to take the pre-filing course before filing, but I'm wondering if I need to fill out any paperwork prior to the attorney obtaining a case number and scheduling a 341 meeting? In other words, what are the minimum "pre-filing" requirements regarding paperwork/forms, and at what point exactly, is a bankruptcy case officially filed? And at what point in the process is the 341 meeting scheduled?

In the past year, a utility service collection for about $1,500 showed up on my husband's credit report. He was the one who signed us up for the service and as far as I know they only have his name on the account, but since I'm in a community state, can/should I list that creditor in case they decide one day to attempt to collect the debt from the spouse? If so, do I only list the OC and/or the CA?

(AHHHH... I want this over with so I can get on with the rest of my life!!! I'm so glad I stumbled upon this forum!!)

[keepmine]

Your lawyer can't file until all the schedules are filed out and you've signed them and provided the counseling certficate. At that point, the filing will usually be done electronically and a case number will be assigned within minutes. Depending on the workload in your district, you may get a 341 meeting date that day as well.
List every conceivable creditor you can think of. Ink is cheap.
There is no problem spending your return on items you described.

[TX Bluebonnet]

Thanks for the great info! I was hoping one could "file" and follow up with paperwork within so many days. Oh well, I guess it's time for me to start recalculating my 6 month lookback time frame.

[keepmine]

Why would you want to do that unless, you're being sued or foreclosure or something is a few days away.
Your lawyer can mkae a "skeleton filing"-just a few forms and then you have 10 days to complete it but you only do this in a real emergency.

[TX Bluebonnet]

Well, no emergency now since the property - a mobile home - has been repossessed, sold, and has a hugh dificiency balance due. I would like to have a bk started before a judgment gets filed against me. Plus, I have ongoing feelings of resentment toward my husband regarding this situation that I always felt could and should have been handled differently all along. Needless to say, it's putting a lot of stress on me and our marriage. Sorry, I just need to get a grip.