Is bankruptcy my only option?

[ttg1]

Would the fact that I have nothing keep a creditor from dragging me to court, or would they still try?

This is one of the most common mistakes that people make. Your ability to pay has nothing, zero, zip, nada to do with whether or not you get sued. If there is a business based upon hope it is the collections business. There is always someone out there who is willing to take the risk to sue in the hope that you will pay. If the original creditor wont, they will sell the debt to someone who will.

[magua2]

Do you live in a community property state? If so, your debts are your husband's debts and he would be fair game for collection proceedings.

[lotsahats]

Is bankruptcy my only option?

My husband works. I stay home with the kids. The underwater credit cards are solely in my name, which means that, when I file for bankruptcy, I will be able to do so separately from my husband.

I'm considering filing for Chapter 7, for the peace of mind that having my slate wiped clean will bring. We've been trying to pay off our 14K credit card debt for three years, and are no closer now, than we were when we got owned by the economy three years ago. The thought of being free of debt is so alluring, it makes my head spin.

But, here's the crux: it's only the minimum credit card payments that are doing us in. If you leave them out of our budget, then we have more than we need.

What if I didn't file? What if I just didn't do anything? What if I simply stopped making the payments? They couldn't garnish my husband's wages, could they, since the cards aren't in his name? And, since I'm not working, I have no wages to garnish.

We have a joint bank account, but that is easily remedied by taking my name off of it (but continuing to allow me to be an authorized user). Our only asset is our jointly owned car, but the value on it is so low, that it's protected by our state's personal property exemption. And, we have no plans of ever buying a home, as renting has always been our personal preference.

Would the fact that I have nothing keep a creditor from dragging me to court, or would they still try? Am I being fool-hearty? Should I just go ahead and file Chapter 7?

What are your thoughts?