Please help me with my story

[LSUTiger32]

I hope all is well with you and your wife. I know financial stuff can drive a stake into the heart of a marriage. Best of luck to you both!

Thanks, we are fine. She is a wonderful person and she doesn't hold it against me. Besides, she knows she is no angel all the time!

[LSUTiger32]

Well today is the beginning of the journey for me. I didn't sleep well last night but I am ready to go meet the attorney and get everything laid out on the table.

I think I will feel better tonight knowing, as long as I hear what I am hoping to hear which is that this is a viable option for us and that we will indeed get another chance to make the right financial decisions.

[LSUTiger32]

Went to the consultation today. It was with the paralegal, but she is really good. It took about 35 or 40 minutes and it was about as painless as possible. She looked everything over very carefully and basically told us it was pretty simple. The fee for the court is $299 and their fee is $1,001 to make it an even $1,300. She said that we would be done in about four months and explained the different things that could happen as far as creditors objecting. She made it seem pretty straight forward and really kind of routine. I guess you think your situation is so horrible, but they have seen 100 times worse I am sure.

We are going to tie up a few loose ends and I feel like I have to make one last ditch effort to avoid this, but if it fails we will probably put the $650 (half) that we need to file the petition.

[LSUTiger32]

One thing maybe someone can explain to me is in regards to our Disney timeshare. We would like to keep it because we owe only a few thousand dollars left on it and it's worth more than what we owe.

She (the paralegal) said that they are unlikely to go after a timeshare, I guess because of the stigma that they are rarely worth anything. She said if they do we can make an offer to buy it back. Does any of this make any sense?

I would like to keep it but before I just lost it I could sell it and use the proceeds to survive for the next month or two and pay for the bankrputcy.

[OhioFiler]

I'd meet with a few more attorneys before I retained a paralegal.

[LSUTiger32]

Oh no, it's an attorney.....the paralegal just did our consult. There were easily five parties waiting and the phone was ringing off of the hook. She just reviewed everything and explained our options and said that once we place the $100 retainer, our next meeting would be with the lawyer. She's been doing it for 10 years so she knew her stuff. She even explained some things that might happen based on which trustee we get.

Right now I am trying to figure out a last ditch way to avoid this, before we make any rash decisions.

[falken]

Right now I am trying to figure out a last ditch way to avoid this, before we make any rash decisions.

Don't make the mistake of throwing away money or property you may be able to excempt to try and avoid it for awhile. Unless you have a magical money tree or some expensive property you don't need you may still end up at the BK door, except now you owe more and own less.

[LSUTiger32]

Don't make the mistake of throwing away money or property you may be able to excempt to try and avoid it for awhile. Unless you have a magical money tree or some expensive property you don't need you may still end up at the BK door, except now you owe more and own less.

You make an excellent point. I am struggling with the notion of doing it now and feeling like a quitter or making one last attempt to avoid what is likely inevitable. I wanted so bad just to pay the $650 (I have it now) and get the process started, but I couldn't seem to pull the trigger. I kept telling myself that you can get out of this without the nuclear bomb. I'll take the weekend and try to come to grips with reality.

[OhioFiler]

You make an excellent point. I am struggling with the notion of doing it now and feeling like a quitter or making one last attempt to avoid what is likely inevitable. I wanted so bad just to pay the $650 (I have it now) and get the process started, but I couldn't seem to pull the trigger. I kept telling myself that you can get out of this without the nuclear bomb. I'll take the weekend and try to come to grips with reality.

You must come to grips with reality. Denying reality is like me claiming OSU was better than LSU at the Sugar Bowl. It only perpetuates ignorance.

[LSUTiger32]

You must come to grips with reality. Denying reality is like me claiming OSU was better than LSU at the Sugar Bowl. It only perpetuates ignorance.

LOL! Thanks for making me laugh. Do I have to decide what to do with everything before they file the petition? I assume so, huh?

I think I will put the $100 down and get my time with the attorney to ask a few burning questions and then we will get started.

The sooner this is over, the sooner my life will be so much easier to live.

[kw1025]

wow, thats alot of debt, but the good thing is, it is non-consumer debt, meaning most is not on perssonal credit cards, for personal consumption. Rental properties may be in your name, but they are non-consumer debt. You attorney will most likely tell you there is NO means test for you, the UST will be interested, but that would be nomal. If you want to keep any of these rentals, you will given the chance to buy them back. If there is equity in your rentals, it will be an asset case, meaning there is equity for the trustee to sell, to get money for your UNSECURED creditors only. The trustee will not want to touch any of your properties that have no equity. they will only be concerned about you unsecured, not your secured. Like i said, if alot of your debt is "non-consumer" meaning business related, you will get a chap 7 with no means test whatsoever

[kw1025]

oh, the time share. if it has equity, it will be an asset case. no way to avoid but doing a chap 11 buss bk. tell the attorney you want to keep, your trustee will want to know the amount he could get if he sold it, and whatever that amount is, you offer it to him with a payment plan, or get out of your 401k or family loan. the trustee does not want to sell your property, if you can give him the cash he would get from selling it, he will take it and you will keep it

[LSUTiger32]

Awesome info KW thank you!!!

[LSUTiger32]

Well I took the weekend and we decided that we will take another week or two and see if we can dump the property that I have some equity in. I listed it in the paper as a best offer, contractor/landlord special so that along with the crazy low price I listed should get me some bites.

Does anyone know how it works with selling assets before filing. How much under the law can I make on the property and not get it taken from me? I know I can use the proceeds for living expenses, but is there a cap?

[lrprn]

Does anyone know how it works with selling assets before filing. How much under the law can I make on the property and not get it taken from me? I know I can use the proceeds for living expenses, but is there a cap?

You need to get a fair market price for the asset, and you can't sell it to a family member or other insider (a business partner, for example).

Then you are going to have to figure out what to do with the money you get. If your state's bankruptcy exemptions can't protect the cash you receive, then you need to find a way to spend that money down before filing. This is an area where you need expert advice from an experienced bk lawyer who is familiar with your state's exemptions and what your local court and trustee will tolerate.