We had our 1st free consultation Friday, and now I am more confused that ever. I don't know what to do. The attorney was very nice and answered all of our questions, but...he wants us to pay $2000/month! Plus our house payment of $900/month. With our bring home pay-that leaves hardy anything for groceries & utilities, much less anything we had planned for our expenses. Does this sound right? My hubby brings home about 650/wk, me about 700 every 2 weeks. Take away the bankruptcy payment, house payment, insurance, utilities, etc...we're still in the negative every month!!! Does this sound right? Should we consult another attorney??? I don't know where to turn.
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How did this attny come up with this magic number, may I ask??
If he did what happened to us during our first Consult, I'd say RUN!!
The first attny we went to never looked at the Median Income, or even did a Means Test. He just took Hubby's net and started deducting expenses. We spent too much for auto insurance, so he wrote down what he knew the Court would allow. We spent too much for cell phone, so he wrote down what he knew the Court would allow. Our propane bills were too high so he wrote down what he knew the Court would allow. It went on and on and on.
At the end, he gleefully announced we'd only have to pay $197/month in a 5 year Ch 13 plan.
If that sounds familiar, then definitely go see more attnys.
Even if that doesn't sound familiar, definitely go see more attnys.
Always seek several Consults. Get different opinions and perspectives on your situation. I know it's tiring and it wears on you. We did it 10 times. But you'll be glad you did.Filed Ch 7 - 09/06
Discharged - 12/2006
Officially Declared No Asset - 03/2007
Closed - 04/2007
I am not an attorney. My comments are based on personal experience and research. Always consult an attorney in your area to address concerns related to your particular situation.
Another good thing about being poor is that when you are seventy your children will not have declared you legally insane in order to gain control of your estate. - Woody Allen... -
Beachgirl, that makes no sense to me either----your income is almost identical to ours, except ours is about $300 more a month, and we only had to pay $1300 based on family of 3. Oh, and our house payment was about the same also. Something doesnt sound right at all.Comment
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Originally posted by beachgirl
By some chance did you happen to fill out the form b22 to see if you can qualify for a chapter 7? As I always repeat, plan your bankruptcy as if you weren't using a lawyer, but use one anyway. You do the calculations and see if you qualify or will at least have a feasable chapter 13 plan that you can live with. I would never dump my issues on the lawyers desk and rely on him to do this. I would rely on him only to help me with issues that involve legal know how and the expense thing I would research myself. If you don't have a pacer account, maybe you should get one and see what's typical in the way of expenses in your area.Comment
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The attorney did not take an average of our last 6 months pay, he just took our most recent. My hubby gets alot of o/t and this check just happened to be a bigger one. He didn't really even ask about our expenses. I don't know what to do now. There is no way we can afford that payment, plus our house, plus utilities & raise 2 teenagers!Comment
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Call some more attnys and schedule some more Consults.
Also, you can figure some of this out for yourself so you'll know if the attny is blowing smoke or not.
Here's a link for you:
http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/
The Means Test is there. The Median Incomes are there. The allowable expenses are listed there. You can run the Means Test yourself to get a good idea of whether or not you're really Ch 13.
Your first attny's Consult sounded like ours. The guy took Hubby's last pay stub, and worked off his own list from there.Filed Ch 7 - 09/06
Discharged - 12/2006
Officially Declared No Asset - 03/2007
Closed - 04/2007
I am not an attorney. My comments are based on personal experience and research. Always consult an attorney in your area to address concerns related to your particular situation.
Another good thing about being poor is that when you are seventy your children will not have declared you legally insane in order to gain control of your estate. - Woody Allen...Comment
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