Newbie thinking about bankruptcy

[MyLifeisaMess]

[Minnymouth]

Okay,
The time in your life has come to make CHANGES.............

First separation, now divorce.
Next is to clean-up your financial affairs.......

IF YOUR GOING TO CLEAN-UP YOUR LIFE - DO IT ALL THE WAY!!! AND GET A FRESH START FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILD.......

Under your circumstances you need to consult an attorney if at all possible to discuss your options...... Legal Aid might even be available to you under certain circumstances.

Whether you would fall under a Chapter 7 depends on any assets that you might have of value..... that the Trustee could seize and sell.

If you have a large sum of money in the bank, then it best be spent on rent, groceries, medical bills, attorney fees,tires for the car, clothes for the child, etc.

You do not want to file bankruptcy with a large sum of money in the checking account.

Make you a game plan, set your goals, and GO FOR THEM........

Turn your life around, and make it worthwhile for you and your son.

Chat with us and keep you nerves under control....... you have lots to do.... time to GETTER DONE!!!

Minny
Minny

[AMISLANDER]

Listen to Minny!

She will tell it to you straight up

[SinkingFast]

You've done the right thing for yourself, and most especially for your son. Living a good, but hard life will be a much better for you son in the long run than growing up in a home of abuse.

A little detail would help here. And please don't think I'm being nosey.

What State? What's your current income level, over the last 6 months, that is. State and income will help us look up your exemptions and info for the Means Test. We can give you a better idea of what to expect, and possibly there are people here who live in your same filing District that will add additional input as well on you local Court.

How much was the gift from the family and how long ago? Rough figure would be good. You don't have to be specific about the gift. Could make a difference if you're talking $500-$1000 or $10,000, if you catch my drift there. One the Court might over look the other will stick out like a sore thumb.

As far as the CC's and charges go,......... Have you been using the CC's other than the $5/statement charges they are adding on?? If that's the only use on them recently then that's probably not a concern. Think back to the last time you actually purchased something on the CC's. When you made your last Cash Advance/Balance Transfer or used a Convenience Check.

If you aren't living totally cash yet, start. Stop using the CC's if you haven't already.

[Minnymouth]

MyLifeIsAMess,

There are lots of helpful people on this forum, some may have gone thru what you are now, who knows.......

Its real hard to make decisions in our lives when we're not used to it....
In fact its' plumb scary sometimes........

I firmly believe in "GUT INSTINCT"..... and swear by it!!! If there's any doubt, do without!!!

We can't solve your problems for you, but we sure can "support" you as you make yours!

Changing your lifestyle, habits, filing bankruptcy are all "life altering" events....

Chat with us, ask questions, tell us your fears.......... we have been there, and done it.............. and some are still going thru it.... and others, just starting - like you.......

Don't ever feel like your alone in a situation........others have experienced many of the same things...... SO YOUR NOT ALONE...........

Pull up a chair, tell us what we can do to help you..........

AND WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY................

Minny

[MyLifeisaMess]

You've done the right thing for yourself, and most especially for your son. Living a good, but hard life will be a much better for you son in the long run than growing up in a home of abuse.

A little detail would help here. And please don't think I'm being nosey.

What State? What's your current income level, over the last 6 months, that is. State and income will help us look up your exemptions and info for the Means Test. We can give you a better idea of what to expect, and possibly there are people here who live in your same filing District that will add additional input as well on you local Court.

How much was the gift from the family and how long ago? Rough figure would be good. You don't have to be specific about the gift. Could make a difference if you're talking $500-$1000 or $10,000, if you catch my drift there. One the Court might over look the other will stick out like a sore thumb.

As far as the CC's and charges go,......... Have you been using the CC's other than the $5/statement charges they are adding on?? If that's the only use on them recently then that's probably not a concern. Think back to the last time you actually purchased something on the CC's. When you made your last Cash Advance/Balance Transfer or used a Convenience Check.

If you aren't living totally cash yet, start. Stop using the CC's if you haven't already.

Im in Ohio. I bring in $1300per month w/o OT. $1500 per month w/OT. I have been trying to get OT when I can, but it is not guarenteed income. I also recieve $200 child support.

I have 1 thing, my car. I make payments, it is current.

The gift of $ was $2600, recieved it the day after I left in Dec.

I used a credit card for items needed such as kitchen stuff: pots & pans, dishes, silverware, knife set, cleaning products, cleaning supplies..ect. Last purchase was in January. All my cards are now shredded.

[SinkingFast]

Here's a link to Ohio Exemptions:

http://www.ohiobankruptcy.com/exemptions.html

Looks like the only thing that may be a bit tight for you is the car. You get $1000 for vehicle exemption. You said you make payments, so the exemption will apply to the equity you have in the vehicle. Equity is the difference between what you owe and what the car is worth. So you'll need to check your principal balance and find out the private party price value of your car. You can get that at Kelly Blue Book or Edmunds.com.

Most likely, an attny would advise, that even tho your "borrowing" furniture and such, you go ahead and count it as personal property. But there's no way you're gonna exceed the personal property exemption limit. You use garage sale, yard sale, Goodwill and other 2nd hand type stores to determine your values.

Here's a Link to the DOJ about the New BK Law:

http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/

If you have custody of your son, legally, and can claim him as a dependent, the Median Income for Ohio for a 2 person household is $46,250. Even at 1 person, the Median is $37,333, so Income is not going to be a problem for you.

You are getting close to if not well beyond the 70/90 day period for Cash Advances and CC Purchases at this point. In my opinion you don't need to worry about the $5 charges for ordering old copies of statements.

Sounds like the only other concern you may have is the cash the folks gave you back in December. But, the timing of the gift really works in your favor. It was Christmas time, and your divorce situation causing a lack of housing at the time, your attny could easily slip that passed the Court as a generous Gift. It was a one time occurance and there were no expectations that you would repay it. You may even have your folks give you a back dated letter stating that some portion of the $2600, $2000 for example, was a gift given to help you reestablish yourself after loosing your home in the Divorce. You parents gave the money freely with no expectations that they would be repayed. The rest could easily be a Christmas gift for you and your son.

I know you're nervous, but you have nothing to hide, and you have very little that could even come close to being considered an asset that isn't exemptable. Looks like if you choose BK, you would be a rather straightforward, no asset Ch 7 case. That's an opinion. And not a legal one.

I'd suggest you contact a few local attnys and schedule some appointments for Consultations. Consults are free and you'll learn a lot from each attny you talk to. Also, at your income level, you might see if you have a Legal Aid office available to provide you with assistance as well.

[MyLifeisaMess]

Here's a link to Ohio Exemptions:

http://www.ohiobankruptcy.com/exemptions.html

Looks like the only thing that may be a bit tight for you is the car. You get $1000 for vehicle exemption. You said you make payments, so the exemption will apply to the equity you have in the vehicle. Equity is the difference between what you owe and what the car is worth. So you'll need to check your principal balance and find out the private party price value of your car. You can get that at Kelly Blue Book or Edmunds.com.

Most likely, an attny would advise, that even tho your "borrowing" furniture and such, you go ahead and count it as personal property. But there's no way you're gonna exceed the personal property exemption limit. You use garage sale, yard sale, Goodwill and other 2nd hand type stores to determine your values.

Here's a Link to the DOJ about the New BK Law:

http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/

If you have custody of your son, legally, and can claim him as a dependent, the Median Income for Ohio for a 2 person household is $46,250. Even at 1 person, the Median is $37,333, so Income is not going to be a problem for you.

You are getting close to if not well beyond the 70/90 day period for Cash Advances and CC Purchases at this point. In my opinion you don't need to worry about the $5 charges for ordering old copies of statements.

Sounds like the only other concern you may have is the cash the folks gave you back in December. But, the timing of the gift really works in your favor. It was Christmas time, and your divorce situation causing a lack of housing at the time, your attny could easily slip that passed the Court as a generous Gift. It was a one time occurance and there were no expectations that you would repay it. You may even have your folks give you a back dated letter stating that some portion of the $2600, $2000 for example, was a gift given to help you reestablish yourself after loosing your home in the Divorce. You parents gave the money freely with no expectations that they would be repayed. The rest could easily be a Christmas gift for you and your son.

I know you're nervous, but you have nothing to hide, and you have very little that could even come close to being considered an asset that isn't exemptable. Looks like if you choose BK, you would be a rather straightforward, no asset Ch 7 case. That's an opinion. And not a legal one.

I'd suggest you contact a few local attnys and schedule some appointments for Consultations. Consults are free and you'll learn a lot from each attny you talk to. Also, at your income level, you might see if you have a Legal Aid office available to provide you with assistance as well.

Ok I am confused by these exemption stuff. But I looked up my car in kbb.com.....

It states the retail value is $10,310
I owe on the loan $10289.34

[SinkingFast]

You're allowed $1000 in equity on your car so you'll be safe there. Your total equity in your car, if your numbers are correct, is about $20. No sweat on keeping your car.

On the other exemptions,..... Basically you'll be allowed $2000 to cover your clothes, furniture, kitchen items, etc since you rent and do not own a home.

You can exempt $750 in books and tools of your trade. If you were a mechanic, you could cover up to $750 for hand tools to work on cars. If you work from home using a computer, you could exempt $750 for your computer.

You can exempt 75% of earned but unpaid wages for up to 30 days. Say you only get paid once a month, 75% of what you earned that month would automatically be protected. For a quick easy example, say you make $1000/mo. You can automatically exempt $750 of the wages and the Trustee can't take anymore than $250 tops. In the case of low income filers, the Judge may allow more than 75% to be exempt.

Plus, you have an additional $400 WildCard. That's $400 to apply anyway you want.

That's the main points. The rest is just limits and some non routine type things. Like workman's compensation or unemployment benefits. If you haven't had any of that stuff it doesn't really matter.

Like, your fridge couldn't be worth more than $300. But if you're renting the fridge was probably already in the kitchen of the apt and that won't matter.

It can be a bit confusing to start. They list a whole bunch of stuff that doesn't necessarily apply to you, but other people may be in that situation. Gotta remember the law makers had to think of everyone when they made the rules.

[jane taylor]

Just happened upon this post today and can't write much now, but wanted to let you know that we are all here for you. Feel free to vent whenever you need to; we're here to encourage one another. There are a couple of jerks that like to spread their negativity, but don't worry about them. They have bigger problems than BK--LOL.

Hang in there, God bless you, and do keep in touch. This forum has been a real sanctuary for me during a difficult season.

jane