12K really too low to file?

[Lavender16]

Been reading many responses to ppl with around $12K in debt and recommending its not worth to file. But what if you have no income/job last few yrs and living with parents due to health issues?Future job is uncertain. Plus a creditor suing you and unpaid students loans 30k?
I'm almost done with paperwork, but after reading those responses I got worried. But then again, I don't have much choice since even though I live w/parents, they can't afford to help w/my debt...
Wouldn't this situation be an exception?

[bcohen]

If you have no income, then a debt of $12k, or even $5k might as well be a million dollars, because you can't pay it! However, if you truly have no income, and no property in your name, the only benefit of wiping the debts out in bankruptcy is if you think you might inherit money/property in the future. Your creditors can, of course, file lawsuits, obtain judgments, and attempt to garnish wages and bank accounts, but if you aren't working, and don't have any bank accounts, they can't squeeze blood from a turnip.

If you do declare bankruptcy, what do you plan to do about your student loans? Are they private or federal? If federal, are you on an income-based repayment plan, or are they in default? If private, have they already been charged off, and is the upcoming lawsuit for the student loans? Although private student loans are just as difficult to discharge as federal student loans (but lack the borrower protections of federal loans), one big difference is that they are subject to the same statute of limitations as ordinary consumer debt, and once reduced to a judgment, are subject to the same judgment statute of limitations as any other debt. So if they fail to collect on their judgment for 10 years, or whatever the SOL is in your state, they may not bother to renew, and you might be "free" of the debt.