Thinking 13

[hwilli]

Got divorced 7 yrs ago and eventually lost home to forclosure three yrs later could not keep up with remaining credit card accounts and all bills including 2nd mortage. Child stayed with me with no child support ect.... Thinking of a 13 due to I will not meet the 7 requirements. My concern is that my child has grown and with my help has bought a car. Within the state of Illinois you have to be 18 i believe to have a car in your name therfore it is in my name and not his. Will I be able to keep the car in a chapter 13?

[LadyInTheRed]

Welcome to bkforum!

If you can exempt it's value or pay to unsecured creditors an amount at least equal to its value during the life of the plan, you can keep the car.

Are you certain you don't qualify for a Chap 7? Have you run the means test or had an attorney run the means test for you?

(I deleted your other thread. Please do not post the same question in two forums.)

[hwilli]

Thanks, I spoke to a lawyer today and he said that I was not eligible for a 7 due to my yearly income, although he did not do a means test. Is there a form on the net that one can do a sample means test? Lawyer told me the car would not be an issue and that I would be able to keep it . He ask what yr and how many miles it had on it but did not ask me how much it was worth. I do know that it is worth more that the $2500 exempt allowed for a car. Car is an 05 Mustang with 98,000 miles. This was my initial consultation with this lawyer and I have not commited to him yet as I may try and set up a couple more reviews.

[pamkev]

Thanks, I spoke to a lawyer today and he said that I was not eligible for a 7 due to my yearly income, although he did not do a means test. Is there a form on the net that one can do a sample means test? Lawyer told me the car would not be an issue and that I would be able to keep it . He ask what yr and how many miles it had on it but did not ask me how much it was worth. I do know that it is worth more that the $2500 exempt allowed for a car. Car is an 05 Mustang with 98,000 miles. This was my initial consultation with this lawyer and I have not commited to him yet as I may try and set up a couple more reviews.

Set up more interviews. I'm glad we did. We talked to 4 different lawyers and have to choose between two whcih have said the same thing. The others never said anything about the means test these 2 did Pam

[LadyInTheRed]

If the attorney based Chap 7 eligiblity only on your income, it is still possible you will qualify for a 7. Try the means test calculator at http://www.legalconsumer.com/bankruptcy/nolo/

[hwilli]

Have to do a 13 , thanks for the link as it had alot of info in which i could review. Checked the KBB on sons car and its value is around 9300 good condition.

[hwilli]

If a creditor shows up on credit report and shows a $0 balance do i have to place them on my chapter 13 creditor sheet ? Looks as though the balance was sold to another firm and the also appear on the credit report.

[hwilli]

Going to take the pre-13 credit counseling course online tonight ,anything I should be aware of? I have all the documentation on hand that is required by this firm.

[LadyInTheRed]

If a creditor shows up on credit report and shows a $0 balance do i have to place them on my chapter 13 creditor sheet ? Looks as though the balance was sold to another firm and the also appear on the credit report.

I'd list them both.

[hwilli]

Almost ready to file: As much as I can calculate total debts unsecured equal $ 32,000. One secured debt which is my truck with $ 5,000 still remaining on payments and I would like to continue payments outside the plan as it would be payed off in 14 months. NDI to my calculation is high compared to what I would have to calculate $32,000 divided by 60 months to payback 100% of unsecured debt which would be around $550 a month for 100% . Lawyer said that I would would not have to payback 100% of unsecured debt? How would this caculate, would the Trustee want all NDI even if it would amount to over 100% payback to unsecured debts? I am keeping my sons car they said with exemtions ect: it could get valued at around $5,000.

[hwilli]

Turned in all required documents to Attorney last week, his office called today to set up an appointment for me to come in and sign petition. What exactly does this mean? He has not went over anything that I turned in to him with with me as of yet? What is a petition ?

[LadyInTheRed]

The petition is what gets filed with the court to start your bankruptcy proceeding. It will include, among other things, lists of your assets, debts and expenses. It will also include your plan which will state the monthly payment you will have to make to the trustee.

If you provided all of the documents your attorney requested, those documents probably had all the info he needed to prepare the petition. If there is something you think your attorney should know that wasn't included in the documents you provided, let him know before your appointment.

When you go to sign the petition, review it carefully, have any errors corrected and ask questions about anything you don't understand. If the plan payment seems too high, ask the attorney to go through how it is calculated. Don't let yourself be rushed into signing and don't sign the petition if it is not accurate. You will be signing under penalty of perjury, so you want to make sure everthing is correct.

[hwilli]

Thanks so much for the information. I belive that I went through every detail as much as possible prior to turning the documents over to Attorney, he seemed surprised that everything that he ask for was completed. I just wanted to be as detailed as much as possible, but was surprised that I did not get questions on any lines of documents at all from attorney.

[hwilli]

I am confused a bit, what is the definition of secured debt vs unsecured debt? I have truck payment and sears,wells fargo, capital one , dell , & jcp

[LadyInTheRed]

Secured debt is when the lender has a lien against your property so they can repossess it if you don't pay the debt. A mortgages is a secured debt. The loan on your truck is probably secured by a lien on your truck. I believe Dell's credit contract states that what you purchase is security for the loan. Long ago when I had a Sears card, lwhen I bought an appliance on the card, the receipt I signed included language that the appliance secured the debt. I don't think that was the case for all purchases on the card. Regular credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) are unsecured, unless you had to deposit funds in a savings account to secure them.