Had intitial attorney meeting, few questions

[sacredgroove]

Quick rundown:
wife may be filing alone due to vast majority of unsecured is in her name only....about 50k in CC debt
mortgage arrears of 8k
state median income is about 70k which we are maybe 4k over at best. We do not have any valuable assets aside from the wifes maxima that is 8 years old and paid off. Our liquid money is long gone from trying to stay afloat. We are keeping the house.

attorney ran the numbers on a ch. 13 and said the unsecureds would get nothing.

payment plan would be:
2100 mortgage payment
200 arrears
45 attorney fee
177 trustee fee

He also said after we cure arrears (outside the plan) he can switch it to a ch. 7 and finish it all off.

My main question is, does the estimated plan an attorney comes up with during consultation usually end up being pretty accurate as far as what the trustee will agree to? The attorney was very knowledgeable and said ours is pretty easy compared to most. We are current or close to on all of our accounts, just very tough to keep up. We had arrears from a loan mod on the house and currently in a repayment plan with them. The montly bill is $3800 though for the next 5 months and my business dipped quite a bit the last few weeks. We are in Raleigh, NC and apparently our county is pretty lenient. They even allow early payoff at plan value not 100%. I am basically just shocked that the CC debt will be gone with no payback! We have a car and boat loan in both of our names but will be paying them outside the plan as the interest rates are very good (had beautiful credit a few years ago) and less than 3 years remaining on the term. Thanks for any help.

[lrprn]

We are keeping the house. ... We have a car and boat loan in both of our names but will be paying them outside the plan as the interest rates are very good (had beautiful credit a few years ago) and less than 3 years remaining on the term.

It sounds like you and your wife plan to keep the house, the wife's paid off car, your car, and the boat when you file. Did the lawyer happen to mention if the NC bk exemptions allow you to protect everything completely? Are there other assets you are hoping to keep as well?

My main question is, does the estimated plan an attorney comes up with during consultation usually end up being pretty accurate as far as what the trustee will agree to?

Given what's seen here in the forums, the first estimate given during the initial consultation is not necessarily accurate. Your lawyer can't tell you what your exact payment might be until he/she runs the Means Test and Schedules. Also the proposed payment you file with may change to deal with objections filed by your trustee or creditors. What this lawyer gave you is a 'best guess' after a quick initial run of the numbers given his/her prior Ch 13 experience.

Now having said that, it sounds like without filing you are going to crash and burn financially. Even if your creditors get a little back, it's still a vast improvement over what you must be going through now.

Also filing a 7 might not be a 100% guarantee. Whether that's possible or not will depend on where you are financially when your mortgage arrears are caught up and your 13 is ready to be converted to a 7.

Just to get a wider picture, you should consider having initial consultations with at least 2-3 more experienced bk lawyers in your area before paying a retainer to one. Find out what other bk attorneys think of your situation before filing. You'll be glad you did.