BK 7, maybe 13 and a divorce

[imperplexed]

I need some opinions on what to do. I have filed a chapter 7. My 7 was denied because I make too much money. They want to push me into a chapter 13. I am also in the middle of a divorce. Got to like that My problem is that the judge for the divorce is going to nail me to the wall and I will be paying atleast 200 a wk in child support and atleast 150 a wk in spouse support(She wants 250 a wk on my income of 70,000). I am worried that if I continue with a chapter 13, inwhich I have no problems paying back what I owe, along with child support and alimony, I wont even be able to buy toliet paper. I would like to let the house go. I need to keep my car, which I owe on, to go to work. If I need to let my car go, I would have to buy another one. Even though the other car I own is paid for, I know she wont come off of that. What should be my best course of action???

[SinkingFast]

First thought here is,................. Was your Ch 7 dismissed With or Without Prejudice. If you were dismissed With Prejudice, that means the Judge thought your filing was abusive, not made in good faith, and you cannot refile a new Ch 7. That's a place to start.

With the new Court Ordered, Unsecured Priority payments of Child Support and Alimony, those would come right out on the Means Test just like Secured Debt does. Could put you in a position to file a Ch 7 IF you are able to try that again.

Are you currently making payments in a Ch 13 Plan?? Sounds like you are. If that's the case,.......... You can have your attny possibly convert you over to a Ch 7 if that's doable. At the very least, your attny can file for the Trustee to amend your Plan Payments to accomodate the new Unsecured Priority payments you'll be making to the Ex for child support and alimony.

The Trustee could have you continue paying the same payment you make currently, only the Trustee would start sending the Child Support and Alimony directly to your Ex on your behalf. Unsecureds would get less $$$'s/mo. Or, you could pay the Alimony and Child Support yourself and the Trustee could reduce your current Ch 13 payments by that amount. Depends on the Trustee and how he/she would want to handle the situation.

Just some thoughts for you. You should really chat with the attny that filed your BK and let him/her know about the recent changes in your life and finances. The attny can advise you how you'll need to proceed from there.

[imperplexed]

Thankyou for the reply. I need to find out if it was dismissed with/without prejudice. Both attyns talked about me refiling a chapter 7 in a couple of months and push divorce from november to jan. My divorce is scheduled to be finalized at the end of november. My bankruptcy judgement was less than a week ago. I am not making any payments other than child support and spouse support. If I am not mistaken, I have 180 days to convert from a chapter 7 to a chapter 13 or be dismissed all together. Is it possible to release the secured debt as well? I know that if I do that, can I be liable for any shortages upon a resale of the secured debt? My attny sent me to another one for ideas because he said he has not done that many chpt 13. The attny I went to see was none to happy due to the fact that they could only charge 1500 max for this filing. I have estimated my future wages, and it does not seem that I could get them low enough to get under the 65000 cap. Is it best to push through the divorce first or the bankruptcy first.

[SinkingFast]

Tough questions.

If I understand correctly, you're in arrears on your mortgage payments. Right?? As you said you're only paying Child Support and Alimony payments right now. Cause if that's the case, then you'd definitely have to surrender the house in a Ch 7. Ch 13 would be the only way to keep the house. You could make up the mortgage arrears in a Ch 13.

Either way, BK would protect you from any shortfall on the house. If you file Ch 7, the debt would be immediately discharged. If you filed Ch 13, the Mortgage Lender would probably file a Proof of Claim in your Ch 13 payment plan. Once you finished paying in the Ch 13 payment plan, any remaining debts would be discharged. At least that's the case with Unsecureds. Generally people file Ch 13 to save their homes. Not sure about "Secured" debt in Ch 13 when you surrender the home. Maybe others will chime in here.

To the issue of Divorce and custody of the children. Your custody of the children will determine whether you're a household of one or a household of you + however many kids. Which ever parent has custody of the children or where the children will be domiciled in excess of 50% of the time dictates who gets to claim the kids in a BK Court. The number in the Household has a direct bearing on the Median Income level and whether or not you could "pass" the Means Test.