About 2 years ago, while I was deployed to Iraq, my wife and I got in some pretty serious financial trouble. We were on the verge of foreclosure, but thank God, we were able to get caught up. The problem is that we do not have any extra money(we have about $2800 in savings, which I will address later) to pay the monthly payments on our unsecured debt. She owes about $21,000 in unsecured debt. I have about $16,000 in unsecured debt. We've decided to keep paying on my debt, mainly so one of us could have decent credit.
I've been looking into our options and we were thinking about my wife declaring bankruptcy. I realize that my income will be looked at. My income falls around $11,000 below the Alaska median and we meet the IRS's national collection standards. My wife doesn't have a job, she was laid off and has been unable to even get an interview. I mentioned above that we have some cash in the bank. We have 2 vehicles, 1 of which is paid off, but is on the verge of being nondrivable. We are waiting until that point, then I will buy another "beater" to drive to and from work. We are also going to use this money to pay the bankruptcy/lawyer fees. We have another vehicle which we still owe $6600 on, which she uses.
We don't have any other assets, I had to cash out some UPS stock I had to get us caught up on our mortgage.
My questions are as follows:
1) My wife is a co-signer( I am the primary borrower) on the vehicle that is not paid off, will they take that? Or can we exempt that because my name is the primary? Will GMAC allow me to put this vehicle in my name alone?
2) Since we do have a little cash in our joint savings account, would it be wise for me to open an account in my name and put this cash in? Should I purchase a replacement vehicle before she(if she does) declare Chapter 7?
3) What else will they look at? We own a large flat screen tv that was given to me as a birthday present, that is pretty much it as far as "luxurious" possessions.
We were very dumb with our finances early on and hate to even consider this, but her creditors won't work with us at all. There is no way we can pay her side off with her jobless. Hopefully she'll find something, but it's been 8 months and it doesn't look good. I appreciate any and all advice, God bless and thank you.
I've been looking into our options and we were thinking about my wife declaring bankruptcy. I realize that my income will be looked at. My income falls around $11,000 below the Alaska median and we meet the IRS's national collection standards. My wife doesn't have a job, she was laid off and has been unable to even get an interview. I mentioned above that we have some cash in the bank. We have 2 vehicles, 1 of which is paid off, but is on the verge of being nondrivable. We are waiting until that point, then I will buy another "beater" to drive to and from work. We are also going to use this money to pay the bankruptcy/lawyer fees. We have another vehicle which we still owe $6600 on, which she uses.
We don't have any other assets, I had to cash out some UPS stock I had to get us caught up on our mortgage.
My questions are as follows:
1) My wife is a co-signer( I am the primary borrower) on the vehicle that is not paid off, will they take that? Or can we exempt that because my name is the primary? Will GMAC allow me to put this vehicle in my name alone?
2) Since we do have a little cash in our joint savings account, would it be wise for me to open an account in my name and put this cash in? Should I purchase a replacement vehicle before she(if she does) declare Chapter 7?
3) What else will they look at? We own a large flat screen tv that was given to me as a birthday present, that is pretty much it as far as "luxurious" possessions.
We were very dumb with our finances early on and hate to even consider this, but her creditors won't work with us at all. There is no way we can pay her side off with her jobless. Hopefully she'll find something, but it's been 8 months and it doesn't look good. I appreciate any and all advice, God bless and thank you.
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