Please help

[helpsoneeded]

Hi, I am new here. I went to a lawyer today, but he didnt seem to intrested in my case. He said he would not help me if my husband doesnt file too. He has alot of debt, but he just doesnt want to do it. He also said that with both our income together, which is around 95,000 we would have to do a 13 with a payment plan of around 1800 plus our home equity loan of 600.00 We could never do that, no possible way. I told him I wanted to file alone and that when i took the means test i was in the negative because i added my husbands income, but then subtracted the money he does not contribute to the household income. He said i cant to that, i have to include all his income and that is now way i can a 7 . Is this true? I read alot here plus alot of books and research on the internet and to me this doesnt seem right. I have around 67,000 in debt and my husband has 39,000, thats unsecured debt. We live in the state of NY. We do a camper that we owe alot more then its worth, it is in both our names, and he said we would have to give that up to. Is that true...Please help!!!! Thanks alot

[BKOnce]

Live together, file together.

Divorce first, file separately. Income/assests divided.

[JollyGG]

You can file even if your husband doesn't file with you. You didn't mention how many people are in your household. The median income for a family of two in new york state is 51,994 http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/2...come_table.htm So you guys are well above that. I really don't know how the median income works when one is filing without the other but I am sure someone more knowledgable than I will come along. However it does look like you may have to file a chapter 13. However, you should schedule consultations with two or three more lawyers. You will get a much clearer picture of your situation and your options. You can run this online means test http://www.legalconsumer.com/means-t...ator/index.php to get an idea of where you are at in regards to the means test.
As for the camper. I really don't see the trustee thinking it is a necessary expense so you probably won't be allowed payments for it in your budget. However, remember I filed a chapter 7 not a chapter 13 so I really don't know how things like a camper payment would work in a 13.
I would like to say welcome. I'm glad that you found us. Please continue to ask any questions you have and we will do our best to answer them. There is a wonderful supportive group of people on this forum.

[lrprn]

Welcome to BK Forum, HSN - glad you found us!

I went to a lawyer today, but he didnt seem to intrested in my case.(

Please make appointments to see at least 3-4 more bk lawyers in your area. Most give free initial consultations. There's a lot of interpretation in the bankruptcy law and some lawyers are not as familiar with the new case law coming out from recent decisions. You will learn a lot about your situation as well after getting multiple legal opinions. Don't let one poor experience stop you from getting solid information about what's possible and what isn't if you do file alone.

My guess is that you and your husband may have a lot of co-mingled debt with both your names on it. For every loan and credit card that was signed for by both of you, if you file and your husband doesn't, he will be held responsible for the debt you wipe out....no advantage there at all.

And the camper - it's an asset but an unnecessary one that could be liquidated for the cash. However since it sounds like you currently owe more on it than it's worth, there's no advantage to your trustee taking it to sell. Given the information you've given us, it's hard to know what the trustee might decide to do with the camper. This is an excellent question to ask during your 3-4 consultation visits with other bk lawyers.

[helpsoneeded]

thanks

Thanks, the 67000 debt is in my name and my husbands 39000 is in both, but i just want to get rid of mine...

[Lindsay]

My husband and I have a nice Nissan truck with very low mileage. Its a 2004 Titan. We owe about $16,000 on it and it is worth about $18,000. At first we had hoped to reaffirm it, but our income is pretty low now so I'm sure it wouldn't be approved. Then we thought we'd just keep making the payments and hope they didn't repo it. Now I'm kind of leaning towards surrendering it. The payments are high and I guess to keep paying on it for 2 more years could cause a future problem. It's just a truck and we could always get another one when our finances improve. You can't worry about losing the camper especially if its upside down. I'm to the point now where they can come to my house and take everything if they want it; all I want is to have peace and be out of this situation.

Why doesn't your husband want to file? Almost $40,000 in debt is alot and would be hard to pay off. If he files too, you could leave the bankruptcy debt free and start fresh.

[SinkingFast]

Thanks, the 67000 debt is in my name and my husbands 39000 is in both, but i just want to get rid of mine...

The problem with that comment is,............ You cannot pick and choose what debts you list to Discharge. If you file BK, you're gonna have to list all of your debts. Individual and Joint.

If your BK is successful, you're responsibility for all your debts will be Discharged. Throwing all liability for any joint accts solely back onto your Hubby.