I need some opinions Please

[MakinMeCrazy]

Ok heres what happened..2 years ago my husband came into a large sum of money 80K....well we NEVER had money in our lives, so what did we do, we spent it FOOLISHLY! gambling, overnight trips, and about 30K in sensible spending. my question is this, we are now once again BROKE...for one year we lived the good life and now nothing to show. My husband is retired and we get a pension, BUT the bills we made during the last 10 years of marrage are putting us over our heads. We want to file a Ch7 or 13..either is ok.....NOW..will that income of 80K 2 years ago be scrutized? Will the ONE year look back hold? Againthis was 2 years ago . how far back do they go?
Also, I called one attorney who told me "it was 2 years ago what you did with that money was your business"

And please I am knew here , I know the gambling was a mistake, its my addiction and I went cold turkey,,I wanted to kill myself when I quit gambling, the urge was unbelievealble. Thanks for your help I am in Ohio if that makes any difference

[Chowder]

I had the same amount gifted to me 14 months before I filed.

Sounds like you had a lot more fun with yours. I paid off my second and paid some CCs.

Anyway, It never came up.

[MakinMeCrazy]

Hi Chowder...
well I did pay some CC's down and my mortgage is not that bad, the money actually lasted me til a few months ago, then things went belly up...my husband could not find work, our original plan was he retire because of problems at work, then he would find a part time job, and as luck would have it,.,thats when the economy died and there was nothing out there, so we supplimented our monthly retirement with some of that money, about 1200 a month, to cover our bills from when times were really good, and again we did some repairs to our home, paid back money owed to my sister, leased a car for 3 years lease paid in full at time of signing, paid a months nursing for my mother, so we did do some good things, and since we both grew up reallly really poor I thought for once in my life I want to enjoy myself. I know the gambling was out of control BUT once you get the fever its worse than any drugs, because its legal.
But my thoughts are what happened 2 years ago is not an issue...we NEVER planned this to happen. I only hope the one year rule hold true in this case.
BTW...I am so glad I found this site!!!!

[keepmine]

The only issue I can see is if you paid your sister within a year of filing. You'd have a preference/insider issue.

[justplaintired]

I would advise find a good attorney and get some legal advise. Consults are generally free and you can find out what chapter you will be filing and what he advises on the money. Either way, he can give you your best time line on filing. Don't just go with the first attorney, shop around.

Don't beat yourself up too much on gambling addiction. You have accepted it is a problem and sounds like you are working on getting that under control. You might look into a program to make sure you don't fall back into that again. Lots of people have different types of addiction and from what I have read gambling addiction is no different then drug addictions or alcohol addiction, the first step to recover is admitting you have a problem which it sounds like you have done that.

Welcome to Bkforum, it's the best place to learn and work towards a successful bk. Good luck

[backtoschool]

Ok heres what happened..2 years ago my husband came into a large sum of money 80K....well we NEVER had money in our lives, so what did we do, we spent it FOOLISHLY! gambling, overnight trips, and about 30K in sensible spending. my question is this, we are now once again BROKE...for one year we lived the good life and now nothing to show. My husband is retired and we get a pension, BUT the bills we made during the last 10 years of marrage are putting us over our heads. We want to file a Ch7 or 13..either is ok.....NOW..will that income of 80K 2 years ago be scrutized? Will the ONE year look back hold? Againthis was 2 years ago . how far back do they go?
Also, I called one attorney who told me "it was 2 years ago what you did with that money was your business"

And please I am knew here , I know the gambling was a mistake, its my addiction and I went cold turkey,,I wanted to kill myself when I quit gambling, the urge was unbelievealble. Thanks for your help I am in Ohio if that makes any difference

If it was a large gift or "transfer" from a family member then the lookback is two years. As far as income goes, the lookback period is six months in terms of your means test to determine if you are a chap 7 or a chap 13.

Depending on your district you might have to show two years of tax returns and it will show up there, but will not be an issue in regards to filing, it will just be numbers on your tax return from two years ago.

I don't see an issue.

[frogger]

Welcome to the forum. Don't feel alone.... we're all broke or have been there, and from personal experience, I'm sure we've all done some pretty stupid things too.

As long as you learn from your mistakes, you won't repeat them.

[MakinMeCrazy]

Thank You all for the Welcome......Let me clarify one thing, this money was not a gift ..as my husband was to retire from the state, he was given the option of a "PARCIAL LUMPSUM PAYMENT " FROM HIS RETIREMENT ACCOUNT so it was actually retirement money he had paid in over 30 years, he took a large portion and opted for a smaller smaller pension check. So technically it was money we had in a pension fund that upon retirement could be taken out as a cash option, and he still would get a bit smaller check. Our plan was that he would work part time and suppliment the monthly check, BUT that was right before the economy crashed, NO work around.
Again thank you all