Lots of Newbie Questions - please help

[debitdork]

What a great lot of information - thanks so much for the advice everyone!

BKTango, were you able to file seperately from your husband even though you had joint assets or did you end up filing joint? (I hope that's not too nosey, I am just trying to gather as much information as I can about filing seperately) I guess that I am lucky that I have not further complicated matters by attempting a DMP to resolve my problems - because I saw what that did to a few friends of mine and I saw it for what it was and didn't go there. How did they try to sue you after just one missed payment? That's hasty! Do you think it had to do with the DMP?

I have another question, and please redirect me if this is not the right place to ask, regarding lawyers... I have been doing some research regarding lawyers in my area who practice BK law and have found some very confusing information. One of the guys who appears to be a bigshot in these matters (by his account anyway) also appears to be a trustee. ? A trustee who has previously tried to fry a debtor in a situation very similar to mine I might add. How can a lawyer who works for debtors also be a trustee? Does that not seem to be a conflict if interests? Why would a lawyer work hard at protecting me when he usually works on the other side of the table trying to take away from debtors? I have no experience or background with working with lawyers so I know absolutely nothing in these matters, so please forgive me if that is a really stupid question.
In case you couldn't tell ...I am making my list of offices to call and am going to set up some initial consults ASAP thanks to the advice I have gotten here. I guess there really isn't a problem with me bringing the crew in with me for the consultation. Maybe it will leverage a little more sympathy for my situation. (Just kidding) I really do feel like I want to just get this thing started and over with ASAP because I do not want any of this hanging over my head any longer. It has been long enough and I have tried to do the "right" thing long enough. It is time for me to just say "Uncle" and hope I will be able to end up better for it in the end.

[BKTango]

We ended up filing together as my husband also had quite a bit of cc debt, it was just easier to get a fresh start for the whole family. But there are a few on this board that have filed seperately. As far as being sued so soon, yeah that was a shock and it very well could have been because of the DMP or it could have just been the eager beaver wanting to be the first in line lol.

It's great that you are indeed setting up some appointments, do not worry, you will get all the information you need, just be sure to ask all the questions you feel you need to, and everyone is always here to help you along the way. As far as some of the lawyers being trustees as well. Well my lawyer in fact was also a trustee for many years. I remember at one of my meetings with him last month before our 341 I questioned him about something and asked him if I should be scared, he laughed and said "Not at all, now if I was scared then you should run." From day one we felt comfortable with him and that plays a BIG factor in who you choose. While it does seem odd that one can be on both sides of the fence, keep in mind, they KNOW both sides of the fence, so they will know immediately what will fly and what won't.

[lrprn]

You are doing things the right way, DD - good for you!

Here are several links to questions you should ask every lawyer you meet with and how to make the most of every meeting -

http://research.lawyers.com/lawyer-interview-questions.html?site=537

http://bankruptcy.lawyers.com/Bankruptcy-Preparing-to-Meet-with-a-Lawyer.html

http://moranlaw.net/selecting.htm

http://moranlaw.net/interview.html

I took my questions in writing with us into every interview and took quick notes on what we were told as I asked each question. Those notes proved invaluable after the interviews when my husband and I remembered things differently or couldn't remember which lawyer said what.

Keep us posted on what you find out, ok? Best of luck finding a great lawyer to help you!

[debitdork]

can I vent for a second?

Thank you so much for all of the great advice and for those links!
I have already started a notebook with my list of questions for prospective lawyers, but most of the questions pertain to the law - I guess I should also be thinking about the lawyer him/herself as well too.

I really need to vent here some and i hope that someone here will have some comforting information or experience.I am afraid that I had a bit of bad news yesterday and i only made matters worse by trying to find more information... you know how it is with this - there is so much conflicting information and foggy information that it is hard to know where you might actually stand.
Anyway, we were sent our tri-yearly tax assessment yesterday and our house is assessed at a MUCH higher value than I had thought it would be. Bad because Maryland does not have a homestead allowance - none. Given what this states is the value of our home v/s what we owe - we have way too much equity in the house ( house is worth twice what we owe on it). Even if we filed together and used ALL of the exemptions to go toward the equity - we still would not come close. I am in a panic! There is no way we can lose the house. Even if we did the most drastic moves - in the long run we could not even rent a 2 bedroom apartment for what we are paying for our mortgage right now and even that is going to go up because the taxes are going to go up so high because the drastic increase in the assessment. UGH!
I have found so much conflicting information regarding filling seperately v/s joint as well. Even though I am not on the mortgage or the deed, and Maryland is not a community property state, apparently there is verbage to the effect that in MD a marriage is a "single entity" fiscally. Sounds like community property to me, but they say that it is different... but the same. Ugh.
Needless to say, I do need to make appointments to see some lawyers, no doubt about that, but I am absolutely terrified. It seems to me that lawyer or no lawyer - BK or no BK - I am f'ed. (pardon my implication of French) I personally do not see the point in having BK laws if each state can make their own either really liberal interpretation or really constricting interpretation of it. How can a state have no home exemption at all? How does that help anyone make a clean start?
Right now I am just staring at my list of lawyers to call and wondering howI am going to do it. How am I going to get into one of these offices without bursting into tears or vomiting? I am a stinking mess.
Sorry for the breakdown.

[BKTango]

Hmm I wonder.... does your husband happen to have Tenancy by the Entirety on the mortgage/home?

I have no idea how Maryland exemptions work with there being no home exemptions but I do know in Maryland if you have your property held by Tenancy by the Entirety it may be exempt from debts only owed by one spouse.

Check with some of the lawyers about this, also there are ways to keep the property that is above the exemptions, by either paying the trustee the value of the non exempt part (like people have that money just laying around) or possibly funding it through a CH13 plan. I am not sure how that would work but it is doable according to the Maryland BK website.

http://www.marylandbankruptcy.com/

[debitdork]

Thanks for the link. I have looked at it before I believe, butI found another link off it this time that I had not run across before.
The whole business of Tenancy by the Entirety is really tricky. It is recognized in Maryland, but it also seems to be a double edged sword.
On one side it can be used to say that creditors can go after the singularly named property owner who is not filing for BK - in this case being go after the equity in our home even though my name is not on the deed because it is TBE property and therefore effectively mine. They take it because it is effectively half mine.
It has also been used to say that creditors cannot go after property that if effectively owned by two via TBE if only one person is "at fault" basically, meaning they cannot take what is only half mine.
Oddly enough the precident setting case where the trustee did take the TBE property from a singular filer was filed by a lawyer/trustee that is local here and was on my list of lawyers to call. So my question is, do I call him? He apparently knows the topic well, but is he against this sort of thing? It sounds like a "pet" that won him some recognition - would he want to work on the otehr side of that? Seriously. There are two ways to look at it. What do you experienced folks think? I have never had to deal with a lawyer, so I do not know what the logic should be.