Not sure if Chapter 13 is the right thing to do

[female56]

I have been reading too much on the internet this weekend, trying to see what I am really getting myself into, having just retained a lawyer for Chapter 13. When I first decided to look into bankruptcy it is because I left my job and had to quit my DMP, and currently have no way to pay my creditors. I am married and filing for bankruptcy separately. I have 25000 in credit card debt on 13 cards that I had hoped to get rid of with a chapter 7. My husbands salary alone along with his military retirement puts us over the Va state median. He has his own debts and doesn't want to pay mine. I have no assets but the lawyer says I will have to do a chapter 13.

I think that I am going to worry about this too much over the next 5 years but I really don't have any other option right now. I don't know what kind of job I will end up with or how much the salary will be. I am afraid I am turning over my husbands financial control to a trustee for the next 5 years. I don't want him to have to give up bonuses and tax refunds. I currently pay about $200 a month on my kids student loans, 100 for each, and I am not going to stop that, but haven't even discussed it with my attorney. I want to be able to give my grown kids money of they ask for help and if I have it, which is rare, but I want to have that option. I'm not even sure if I will be married 5 more years. I wish I had never started the dmp, my credit dropped 100 points when the creditors closed my accounts. So if I don't do the bankruptcy, I am out of options.

I am just wondering if a chapter 13 will be too much for a worry wart like me. I hear people say it gave them so much relief, but it just giving me stress so far. But so far I have only talked to the lawyer once and filled out forms at home for 6 hours. I guess it's mostly the control issue I am having a problem with, having a trustee tell me what I need to pay and worrying if the amount will change or if it will get dismissed on the home stretch for some reason. If anyone had similar fears when they started maybe you have some comforting words to offer?

[justbroke]

I would have shopped a few more attorneys before settling on one. If you did that then you did find the right attorney for you. I say that because some attorneys just don't want to "fight" with the Trustee in a Chapter 7. As you have already learned, you can obtain a Chapter 7 discharge if you are deserving of a Chapter 7 discharge. This test as to whether you deserve the quicker Chapter 7 discharge, is called the Means Test. If the Means Test reflects that you have "enough" income to provide some "meaningful" dividend to the unsecured creditors, then that is why your only choice is Chapter 13.

You may want to ask this attorney how the numbers worked. While your non-filing spouses income counts, you also get to deduct EVERYTHING that the non-filing spouse pays directly (but be careful where you have things like mortgages, cars, etc). Say for example your non-filing spouse was paying $2,000/month on his/her own credit cards, that gets deducted from your "disposable monthly income" (DMI). In contrast, however, if your housing allowance is $1,500 and you're not working, then your spouse "offsets" that allowance which prevents double dipping.

I have been through Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 and can understand, first hand, how confusing it is and how anxious one gets. Being in a Chapter 13 for 5 years seems like an eternity, but somewhere around 35% of the people make it (some of the other 65% either converted to Chapter 7, just used the Chapter 13 for the automatic stay to stave off a foreclosure, or simply couldn't make the payments).

[female56]

Thank you. I probably should have check with more attorneys. This one just kind of ran numbers in his head and said he would want to do a chapter 13. I guess I will know more once they actually look at my papers and add things up. I guess I can back out before I file if I get a decent job since it's going to take him 2 months to file.

[laleeargent]

Thank you. I probably should have check with more attorneys. This one just kind of ran numbers in his head and said he would want to do a chapter 13. I guess I will know more once they actually look at my papers and add things up. I guess I can back out before I file if I get a decent job since it's going to take him 2 months to file.

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