Lots of questions.

[needtobe]

Hello.
I am new here so I have a lot of questions. I have read a lot of great information here.

1. I am married but my husband and I have been living together off and on for many years. We don't even file taxes together. We are presently not living together. So would I have to include him in my bankruptcy?

2. One of the loans I am going to file against has his name on it also. He knows I am going to file and he is ok with it. Would this be a problem since he won't be filing with me. This is the only thing that has his name on it.

3. I am going to surrender my house and my car. My questions are would I still get an allowance for rent even though right now I am not paying any rent or mortgage payments. Also I will be using my daughters car. Can I count this as maintence for a car that I use. It is not in my name.

4. In May I transfered $9000 from a private loan to my credit card which was an introductory rate. It was a better rate that the loan. Do I need to wait 90 days to file bankruptcy and make the payments in this time. When I transfered the balance I was hoping to swing the payments but Probably cant' after the next couple of months.

5. I was laid off from my job last year and recieved serverence pay . My last severence check will be july 1. I am working another job but the hours have been cut to 32 hrs per week. I think if I wait until September to file I will be ok on the means test.

6. My grandson live with me so can I count him as living in the house. I don't have legal custody but I put him in school and take care of all his needs.

7. My daughter just graduated college and lives with me also. She has not found a job. Can she be counted as dependant also. She did work a part time job but has not worked since May 1.

I know this is long but I just need some advice from people who know what they are doing.

yall have a blessed day.

[canusaybroke]

Hello.
I am new here so I have a lot of questions. I have read a lot of great information here.

1. I am married but my husband and I have been living together off and on for many years. We don't even file taxes together. We are presently not living together. So would I have to include him in my bankruptcy?

Only if his name is on anything JOINTLY with you.

2. One of the loans I am going to file against has his name on it also. He knows I am going to file and he is ok with it. Would this be a problem since he won't be filing with me. This is the only thing that has his name on it.

See above answer.....it will show on his credit bureau a bankruptcy

3. I am going to surrender my house and my car. My questions are would I still get an allowance for rent even though right now I am not paying any rent or mortgage payments. Also I will be using my daughters car. Can I count this as maintence for a car that I use. It is not in my name.

Every state (the county you live in) has an allowance for rent/mortgage based on family size. As for a car, they ask for titles to automobiles to prove ownership. don't say you are using daughters car. You are surrendering your auto in the BK and plan on buying one after you discharge. Maintainence can be included in the means test because the TT is only interested in what you did the 90 days prior to filing, mostly.

4. In May I transfered $9000 from a private loan to my credit card which was an introductory rate. It was a better rate that the loan. Do I need to wait 90 days to file bankruptcy and make the payments in this time. When I transfered the balance I was hoping to swing the payments but Probably cant' after the next couple of months.

It's best to wait 6 months after such a large transfer but your lawyer will advise on that.

5. I was laid off from my job last year and recieved serverence pay . My last severence check will be july 1. I am working another job but the hours have been cut to 32 hrs per week. I think if I wait until September to file I will be ok on the means test.

Plan ahead...once again...your lawyer will help with that....if you have to wait for 3 or 4 months for extra income to drop off, then that is the plan!

6. My grandson live with me so can I count him as living in the house. I don't have legal custody but I put him in school and take care of all his needs.

I believe as long as you can prove you pay for his expenses (living etc) then you will be fine claiming him. (do you claim him on taxes?)

7. My daughter just graduated college and lives with me also. She has not found a job. Can she be counted as dependant also. She did work a part time job but has not worked since May 1.

Age?

I know this is long but I just need some advice from people who know what they are doing.

yall have a blessed day.

Good luck....I'm sure others will chime in also......we are all in this the same...

[needtobe]

1. My so/so husband doesn't care if it shows up on his credit report. I just don't want to include his income since we don't live together and nothing else only this $200 a month loan is in both names. The house, car and all other loans are in my name.


4. The way I have planed I can only pay the CC payment until September.

7. My daughter is 23.

Thanks for the answers.

[JoeBankrupt33]

I don't think it will show up on his credit report at all, unless nobody pays the debt. If you file and discharge the debt, it just means that you are not responsible for the debt, but he still is. You don't "include" him in the bankruptcy, but you do need to list him as a codebtor on schedule H, and probably include him in the creditors matrix so he gets an official notice.

[CH33 Paralegal]

You can certainly file by yourself. Just understand that it's only YOUR liability for the debt that is being discharged. Your husband is still responsible for that one debt in its entirety.

I'm not sure if you're asking in regards to the means test or just I/J but your budget should most definitely take into account the fact that you'll be renting moving forward if you're surrendering your house. I don't think it would draw the ire of the court if you said on SOFA 14 that you drive your daughter's car. You should accurately show what you're going to be spending on maintaining it. I would think gas is a cost, so is any repair or maintenence that one would do that you would actually be paying for, like an oil change, or transmission flush, or tags....but only if you're paying that cost. In regards to a means test, both these answers would be opposite. You need to look at the last 6 months and what you're actually going to keep. You cannot claim ownership/operation on your daughter's car.

Regarding the $9000 transfer. You may not look at it as such, but this is basically a balance transfer, which translates into a preferential payment of debt along with a recent extension of credit at the same time. If both of these debts are unsecured, then what you just did was, Instead of filing a bk with debt A being discharged, you went to another creditor, took out Debt B and paid off Debt A, and then filed to rid yourself of Debt B. Now doing this recently means that the creditor of Debt B could file an objection to your discharge of this debt, based off the grounds that the intentions of payback were not genuine. Also the court or trustee could take issue with all $9000 going to ONE creditor to actually cash them out, rather than distributing that money evenly accross the board, as it would inside of BK. You could wind up being responsible for that $9000 and be denied discharge on it....probably not what you'd want to have happen. You'll want to let at least 6 months go by from when you did this, but I know an attorney that will tell you that 6 is better than 5. 7 is better than 6. 8 is better than 7. ........

Income on the means test. You have to disclose every single way money came into your household in the last 6 months. This includes contributions from family members (like your husband), food stamps, part time jobs, investments, retirement, SS, unemployment...everything. Not all types of income are actually factored in, however severence pay DEFINITELY is. Waiting is relative. Your last 6 months is what will be taken into consideration, so you should plan accordingly based off your earnings. It may not do you any good to wait at all. I just can't make that call, based off what you've said so far.

Remember the phrase "heads on beds" when determining your household size, but that's a two way street and every form of income that head produces needs to go on the income side. If you provide for your grandson, then you should definitely take all the expenses it takes to care for him into account. If you put your daughter in there as an occupant on the means test you have to include all income she has earned in the last 6 months. If you are including costs of her to pay in your budget, it's a little different than your grandson. You daughter is an able bodied adult, I take it, who COULD work a job if one was available. If you're talking about big chunks of money going to pay off debts in her name, like a car note, the court won't really accept that. In the court's eyes, your creditors should not take a loss simply because you have to buy things for someone else.