Should my wife find a job?

[azpt22]

I believe we are going to file ch 7. My wife owns a ton of business debt but while she was working as the boutique owner she was only bringing home about $600 a month. My question is... my wife can probably get a job making $30k - $40 a year but should she wait? Does it look bad if she starts bringing home income right before we file? Should she just stay home with our baby for a while until after we file and everything is discharged. Thanks!

[raidermom]

As far as it applies to your bk, have no idea!

If she was only making $600/mo, she can save more than that by staying home IMO. Of course, it all depends on your income now. Can you make it on one income? We've been one income since before my littlest one was born, and it can be done unless you just have crazy housing and utility costs. Most families who think they need two incomes can actually do just fine once they realize that a lot of times it costs more in expenses to go to work than what the second income brings in.

What does your wife want to do, and what do YOU want?

[azpt22]

I think my wife wants to work part time. She is very type A and couldn't stay home every day. I'm just not sure is she should start looking for a job now or just wait. We meet with our attonrey next week. We should be ok on one income but we took out $70k from a HELOC to finance the business and I want to pay that down since I don't think we can get rid of that debt.

[keepmine]

Lay the situation out to your lawyer.
If her income won't affect your eligibilty for a Chapter 7 then, get her back to work. If it'll cause problems with the means test or disposable income then, she likely needs to sit it out until the bk is filed and discharged.

[Jengo]

I believe we are going to file ch 7. My wife owns a ton of business debt but while she was working as the boutique owner she was only bringing home about $600 a month. My question is... my wife can probably get a job making $30k - $40 a year but should she wait? Does it look bad if she starts bringing home income right before we file? Should she just stay home with our baby for a while until after we file and everything is discharged. Thanks!

I'm not an atty just passing on an opinion. If she works and how much she brings in to the family, it will have to be listed as additional income and this additional income may disqualify for a Chp 7 and put you into Chp 13 reorginaztion and pay back all or a portion of the debt over 3 to 5 years. If she waits it out and then picks up a part time job after discharge, it would be considered possible fraud. When you file, they will ask in petition, at least where I live, if income is expected to increase by 10 percent within one year after the date of filing. If she waits it out until after discharge and starts cranking the work out and bringing in a lot of money, then you may run into problems.

I would talk with your attorney and what to do. She could be a stay at home mom for now and then perhaps after creditor meeting pick up a part time job working 1 to 2 days a week allowing her to bring some type of income in but still be home a lot to help raise the baby. Family Values. I would talk with your attorney most definitely.