Divorce 1st or BK 1st?

[treignz]

Is the financial problems what's leading to the divorce, or is it some irreconcilable difference?

It is not the finances that leading to the divorce; she is a walk away wife.

This is a tricky question. If your goal is to get rid of the car then you probably need to file before a divorce decree assuming she'd even get the car in the divorce.

yes, I would like to be rid of the car after the D.

What's your gross income for the last 6 months?
What was her gross income for the last 6 months?
How much has she contributed to household expenses on a monthly basis?

Mine 40K last 6 months. Her 7.8K last 6 months. She has contributed at best, 200 per month.

Could she get a loan for the car to buy out the loan you owe, thus putting it in her name?

No, she is broke and writing bad checks. Plus she just used my individual checking account for the first time for an on-line dating service. I working with them to get my money back.

[JRScott]

Is the financial problems what's leading to the divorce, or is it some irreconcilable difference?

This is a tricky question. If your goal is to get rid of the car then you probably need to file before a divorce decree assuming she'd even get the car in the divorce.

What's your gross income for the last 6 months?
What was her gross income for the last 6 months?
How much has she contributed to household expenses on a monthly basis?

Could she get a loan for the car to buy out the loan you owe, thus putting it in her name?

[cupcake]

This is the situation. We own a house in OH that's in foreclosure. I have short sale pending. There is a HELOC on it. Roughly 70K in negative equity. Several CCs totalling nearly 50K. The car is in my name only, owe about 15K on it. We live in KY and are renting at this time. Most everything is joint except the car.

Will both of you be filing for BK individually or just you? What kind of arrangements will be made in the divorce judgment for repayment of the debt?

My husband and I filed for divorce first and we are both planning to individually file for BK in February/March. I suspect that our judgment will state something along the lines that we are each responsible for paying our own individual debt and that we are both responsible for paying joint debt. All of it will be discharged through the BKs anyway so it doesn't really matter. My BK attorney said to get the divorce first and that is what I am doing.

[treignz]

listing of my sitch

This is the situation. We own a house in OH that's in foreclosure. I have short sale pending. There is a HELOC on it. Roughly 70K in negative equity. Several CCs totalling nearly 50K. The car is in my name only, owe about 15K on it. We live in KY and are renting at this time. Most everything is joint except the car.

[southernbelle]

I divorced first then filed Chapter 7. The reason is, I didn't want to file jointly with my ex and we didn't own anything joint or have any debt in common so in my case it made sense. I also listed him as a creditor in my BK.

Since you have issues with a car she wants to keep thats in your name only, you might want to talk to both a divorce and bk attys to figure out the best course of action to take.

As a side note: it might be better for you overall if you transferred the car into her name.

[StartingOver08]

The BK is determined by household income and number of people in the household. Have you checked the exemptions for your state? Look for basics here: http://www.uscourts.gov/bankruptcyco...tcybasics.html

You might be better off with the divorce first depending upon the HH income situation, but I don't have enough info yet on your specific situation

[JRScott]

Well they both could be correct in their respective areas.

The Divorce Lawyer is correct that Divorce and property settlements are not dischargeable in a BK. Thus if the D happened first and the divorce decree established that she would get the car and you would continue to pay the car until it was paid off then that could not be discharged. If this is something you don't want then BK first is the answer.

Depending on your household income, it is possible the BK lawyer is also telling you the truth if both of your incomes combined place you over the median income.

[treignz]

I need to file BK. My BK L tells me to D first so that I have a better chance at a 7. My D L says that debt arrangements in D settlements are not dischargeable; so he says probably file BK first.

In question is the car that I owe payments on. W wants to keep the car and it's in my name only. If I file BK before D and go 13; I'll have it in the payment plan. I'm worried that it will be costly and timely to have the car taken out and put in her name. I don't want to be financially responsible for her use of the auto after a D or sep.

Any help is appreciated? I'm in KY.