Question Chapter 13, Did our lawyer screw us?

[Dpaul76]

My wife were in a Chapter 13 for over two yrs and had decided to get a divorce. At this point our attorney said that w should stop paying the trustee and our mortgage. And that we could convert the Chapter 13 to a Chapter 7. So we did. This was back in September 2009. I had been keeping in touch trying to make sure we were on top of things. About a month ago we recieved a letter saying that we had better get current with the trustee or our case would be dismissed. So I call our atorney and the only thing they would say is you had better pay the trustee or your case will dismissed. So about another two weeks go by and I get a letter from the court saying the case was dismissed, 5 days prior to that. So I email the our attorney and he says we need to get in there and figure out what we are going to do. So we go in and now he says we dont have time to convert and besides we make to much. He recomends getting current with the trustee and reinstating the 13 and filing an amendment to have the house discharged as part of the Chapter 13. But since the attorney never called and told us that the 13 was dimissed we are getting calls and letters. We were current with trustee days ago but the web site is not indicating that.

[NoTomatoCan]

And that we could convert the Chapter 13 to a Chapter 7. So we did. This was back in September 2009.

So did you actually convert to a CH7 or just discuss this with your attorney?

About a month ago we recieved a letter saying that we had better get current with the trustee or our case would be dismissed. So I call our atorney and the only thing they would say is you had better pay the trustee or your case will dismissed. So about another two weeks go by and I get a letter from the court saying the case was dismissed, 5 days prior to that.

Why did you wait two weeks between when you first got the letter that your case would be dismissed and your meeting with your attorney?

[Dpaul76]

We went into his office (keep in mind that this is 5 days after the 13 was dismissed) and was told that we could not convert to a chapter7 because of the time and because we make too much money. Back in September he told us we could do it.

We only had 10 days to convert or refile.

[Dpaul76]

We waitied beacuse our attorney told us to wait until it was dismissed then we could convert to a Chapter 7 way back in September 2009

[SMinGA]

If you are separating/divorcing - you'll each need to file your own bankruptcy case (7 or 13, depending on circumstances) once you separate out your finances. Going from one household to 2 changes everything. (2 rents, 2 sets of utilities, possibly child support or other maintenance?)

It may be wise to interview other attorneys also, as it seems this one dropped the ball. (Though perhaps you did as well, by not staying on top of your attorney.)