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    Hello

    Hi Everyone!

    I've been reading the forum for the past week, and I decided to join. Bankruptcy for my husband and I could be a year or more down the road due to some bad financial decisions on our end. Like many others, I lost my job in March 2020 when Covid hit, but was okay for a few months with unemployment. I then got really sick and hubby's insurance from work is awful. Hubby refinanced the house to help pay for medical bills, and we still have thousands worth. We took money out of our retirement to help pay bills and live on. I regret that now since reading more about bankruptcy protection, but it's been hard living on one income. I'm finally back to work as of last month, and we have much better health insurance through my job. Hubby's health is starting to decline a bit due to a work injury from years ago. He's had a couple of surgeries over the years, but he may partially retire in the fall of 2023. He would still work part-time, but he would not be at full retirement age. We're still discussing it, but you can tell how bad he hurts. He will also start getting a small monthly pension of less than $600 starting next month.

    It's also so stressful and confusing. I did speak with a bankruptcy attorney but wasn't really pleased. Somehow, we automatically qualified for this or that without really discussing the financials. I've learned a lot just from reading the site. We want to downsize after he possibly retires next year. Our house is older, but I'm not on the mortgage. He needs work but we have a couple of acres here. It's hard to keep up with. The bones are good, but the furnace is at least 30 years old. It still works fine though as we properly maintain it. But other things are going to be adding up as well. I guess we are exploring our options right now. I don't know if we will file jointly or just hubby after he retires in case the house doesn't sell for what we need. We were always both kind of bad with money. We were getting better with saving and budgeting before Covid hit and my health declined. I guess we made some really bad financial decisions that led us here. I hope that all makes sense, and I look forward to being part of the community.

    #2
    I meant the house needs work.

    Comment


      #3
      Welcome!

      I think many of us made the mistake of taking a lot of money out of retirement when it was the most protected part of our finances. Same with home equity up to your state's homestead exemption. You're not alone there.

      As you already know, filing for bankruptcy isn't just a matter of qualifying. Is now the right time? You can't get another discharge for 8 years. But on the other hand, you also need to consider how much home equity you have remaining and if it would be unprotected if you filed later after selling and downsizing to a rental. There is a lot to consider.

      Comment


        #4
        Hello and Welcome

        We can't refer any names for attorneys, but I see you are in Ohio. The firm I used is very experienced and that is something you should look for to make sure they have a good solid background in BK in your area. The people who handled our BK 13 is run by a female and is big in the Cleveland/Akron area so if you are in this part of the state do your research and see a few attorneys who can give you good information.

        The first attorney we saw wasn't great and I had such bad vibes from him. He said we couldn't do a BK and that he could negotiate with our creditors. After we saw him we stopped paying our credit cards because we were thinking we needed that money for any settlements they might offer, but my gut kept telling me not to go with him. Then a friend who had been thru BK 7 after a divorce years before I knew her told me who she went to and when I went it was like night and day. They were so helpful and knew BK inside/outside, front and back, very knowledgeable.

        Finding the right attorney is really the best advice I can give. We all have different stories of how we go to the point of BK and the important thing is that we are doing something NOW about it to fix the situation. Whatever happened is in the past we can't do anything about that, but we can make a difference for the future.

        Definitely talk to different attorneys with your scenario and your husband's need to semi retire, etc If they give you bad vibes run don't walk away!
        I am not an expert. I just share my experiences in the Wonderful Wacky World of Chapter 13! Filed 3-30-18 Confirmed 7-11-18 Discharged 6-8-22

        Comment


          #5
          Carmella if you like, you can send a private message to MissPhoebe with that name. Even with that, MissPhoebe should follow your comments about finding the best for them personally.
          Chapter 7 (No Asset/Non-Consumer) Filed (Pro Se) 7/08 (converted from Chapter 13 - 2/10)
          Status: (Auto) Discharged and Closed! 5/10
          Visit My BKForum Blog: justbroke's Blog

          Any advice provided is not legal advice, but simply the musings of a fellow bankrupt.

          Comment


            #6
            Welcome from Tampa Bay, FL!

            Comment


              #7
              Thank you for the welcome. It's good to feel not alone.

              Carmella I'm in another area of the state, but I appreciate your information. I will definitely take your advice and search for a better attorney. I will probably talk to a few. We live in a small town so we don't have many options locally. I did find some not too far away. I think the place I spoke to before was a big national broker outfit. I just wasn't comfortable and now they won't leave me alone. I keep blocking different numbers.

              We have a lot to figure out but time to do it. A co-worker of my husband's mentioned he went through bankruptcy a few years ago, and his credit has recovered. The attorney he used has since retired, but he did give us food for thought.

              I appreciate the encouraging words. This forum has helped ease my mind so much already.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by MissPhoebe View Post
                Thank you for the welcome. It's good to feel not alone.

                Carmella I'm in another area of the state, but I appreciate your information. I will definitely take your advice and search for a better attorney. I will probably talk to a few. We live in a small town so we don't have many options locally. I did find some not too far away. I think the place I spoke to before was a big national broker outfit. I just wasn't comfortable and now they won't leave me alone. I keep blocking different numbers.

                We have a lot to figure out but time to do it. A co-worker of my husband's mentioned he went through bankruptcy a few years ago, and his credit has recovered. The attorney he used has since retired, but he did give us food for thought.

                I appreciate the encouraging words. This forum has helped ease my mind so much already.
                Look in your town for a good BK attorney. I say if you can find a good person it would be worth the trip if you have a drive a distance, assuming they are in your BK court district. We only had to see the attorney in person twice at their office. Once for the initial consult and then once when we decided to file and went in/signed the papers, etc. After the that we saw him once at the 341 meeting and never again in person. They were available by phone and we faxed info or mailed it. I did drop papers off at the office once, but it could be easily mailed. We were lucky there was an office about 20 minutes from us, since their main office where they are the majority of the time is about an hour drive.

                BK is taboo so not too many of us talk freely about it which makes it hard to find an attorney. I don't think there's one person in real life that knows we filed, aside from the professionals we had to deal with along the way. My friend who recommended the attorney has passed away, she was the only one we told. Now that my BK is over I think I might talk more about it or if I knew someone was having financial problems, I might say something to help them.

                Good luck on your search for an attorney. If you want my attorney's name send me a message maybe you could call and see if they know of any good attorneys in your neck of the woods. That might give you at least someone to interview and I agree with justbroke on finding an attorney you are comfortable with/works with you. In the case you were in my area and saw my people and you had bad vibes I would totally respect that.
                I am not an expert. I just share my experiences in the Wonderful Wacky World of Chapter 13! Filed 3-30-18 Confirmed 7-11-18 Discharged 6-8-22

                Comment


                  #9
                  MissPhoebe welcome!
                  While I can't comment on lawyer advise for Ohio, (we filed in Colorado and now post- BK13, we live in Washington state) one thing I have experience with is getting out from under an ageing house.
                  My advice is: if you are able to sell your house to an investor who will pay you enough to maybe delay BK13, do it!
                  Once you are in a BK13, dealing with a 30-year-old furnace and other corroding home fixtures will be a nightmare.
                  We struggled not only with the creaking 1992 furnace (which we were repeatedly advised to completely replace) but with a 47 year old swamp cooler, which we patched up over three years in the BK13 so we could survive brutal high desert summers. Of course, every time the repairmen came by, they advised buying either a new swamp cooler or installing AC (neither of which we could afford at the time.)
                  The large one third acre yard was manageable but only because my husband kept it going without the help of a landscaping service.
                  So, if you have issues maintaining a two-acre lot, that's another reason to look at maybe selling now and not later. After you enter BK13, selling will be much more complicated and difficult.
                  I don't know how expensive renting is in Ohio, but if you've thought about downsizing, now might be the time.
                  Selling our 1975 two -story house in Colorado when we did was the best post-BK13 decision we could have made - the investor gutted the house, and we didn't have to repair/replace anything!
                  But best of all, we came out with enough money to relocate to a different state for my husband's new job, and to buy two nice and new (to us) vehicles (after shelling out probably 15K to keep the two Nissan Sentras running over five years during a truly harrowing BK13.) We also paid off all 401K loans and we still have some decent savings left! (Of course, we are currently renting and have no plans to buy at this time.)
                  Best of luck on finding the right path moving forward !!!!!!!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Hi everyone,

                    Thanks again for the encouraging words and for sharing your stories. Barbisi, it sounds like you went through so much. I'm happy that you are both doing so much better now. Thank you for the information on selling to an investor. There are actually a couple close to us. Hubby is okay with that too, but it will probably be spring of next year before we can move. I agree that it might be wise to sell before doing bankruptcy.

                    I did speak with a lawyer who seemed knowledgeable. And we will both speak with one in a couple of weeks. For us, it will probably be a Chapter 13 because of income and other factors. Unless hubby retires early, we would be well above the income limits for a Chapter 7. We would qualify now, but we have things to get in order that we don't want to lose. I'm looking forward to speaking with the other attorney as he has been doing this for decades.

                    But for the first time in a long time, I'm finding peace with everything. I know we've made some bad financial decisions over the years but being quite ill for over two years is what led us here ultimately. I felt very burdened by that, but I'm learning life happens. You've all made me see things in a different perspective, and I say thank you.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      MissPhoebe the strange thing is there is a sense of calm and relief after filing for BK. There's still stress in your life, but it's at a different level. The 36-60 months depending on the plan is stressful, but it was NOTHING like the stress before hand. It was more of an annoyance, tightening the belt, putting off things that needed to be taken care of because you live on cash.

                      If there's a way to set aside money prior to filing I would do that. I think you have to report the money you have and I don't know if there's parameters or not, but it is great if you can set a decent amount aside just incase you need it. Forget you have it and only use it, if absolutely necessary. I would go at least $500 up to $1,000 unless it's frowned upon by the court to have a little stash. Your budget might not be as tight as ours was since we still had a young adult in the household and the BK13 didn't include us providing anything for her since she was an adult! She had a low paying internship so while she covered some of her expenses we still were helping--extra food, extra utilities. I had no idea how much one other person in the house effected the utilities until she moved out! If it was just me and my husband I it wouldn't have been so tight.
                      I am not an expert. I just share my experiences in the Wonderful Wacky World of Chapter 13! Filed 3-30-18 Confirmed 7-11-18 Discharged 6-8-22

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Hi everyone,

                        Thanks so much again. It looks like we might have found our attorney. We had a good consult today, and he's being doing this for over forty years. It will probably be early next year when we can file, but we have set up an appointment in person with him in a couple of weeks. This will give us time to get some of the requested documentation together and go from there. We have a couple of options so we will know more once we meet in person. I'm feeling a bit more relieved now.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          That's great MissPhoebe Please do keep us updated! Glad you found someone who sounds like the best fit!
                          I am not an expert. I just share my experiences in the Wonderful Wacky World of Chapter 13! Filed 3-30-18 Confirmed 7-11-18 Discharged 6-8-22

                          Comment

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