Time to pull the trigger

[BrewCity]

Hey all. So after putting off the inevitable as long as possible, I'll be dropping off a retainer fee on Monday. I qualify for chapter 7 and as much as I hate to do it, it sounds much better than wage garnishment.

[keepsmiling]

Welcome to the forum Brew!

Hopefully you spoke to more than one attorney and are comfortable with this one. If not, spend the rest of the weekend reading up here and be sure to ask any questions you didn't know you should ask :

Good luck and keep us posted. We'll hang out with you til your 341, your discharge, and maybe for awhile after.

[BrewCity]

As far as attorneys, I had a list of 4 and she was at the top of my list. Independent, nice and familiar with the process. The last thing I wanted to deal with was some ambulance chasing law firm. I knew it was going to happen eventually even if I didn't want to admit it so I've been lurking here and there.

[oregonpilot]

Hi brew & welcome.
We were or are probably all in the same boat...waited and put off the inevitable.
Hoping that a miracle would happen and that bazillion dollars never did rain down upon us. LOL
Good luck and we are here for you.

[buffetbuster]

Congratulations on deciding to pull the trigger. I know it's a scary thought to file, but to be honest, it was the best decision my wife and I could've ever made. We were so far in debt from loss of jobs that there was no way we could ever get caught up. Filing gave us a brand new future. Congrats on the start of your new financial future!

[luckstyl]

Brew, I'm filing the week after next so it sounds like our timelines will be very similar. Hopefully will be over and done with before we know it.

[BrewCity]

Yeah, the law suits are starting to come in, the first one is scheduled for the 19th for a card that I stopped paying on more than a year ago. On top of that I've gotten a couple letters from other attorneys saying they represent so & so and I have 30 days to reply, blah, blah, blah. I don't have the money and just letting them garnish my wages isn't an option. After we get the money together for my filing, the other half will need to file as she is in much worse financial condition but we were able to keep up with cards for longer.

[mountanddo]

Yeah, the law suits are starting to come in, the first one is scheduled for the 19th for a card that I stopped paying on more than a year ago. On top of that I've gotten a couple letters from other attorneys saying they represent so & so and I have 30 days to reply, blah, blah, blah. I don't have the money and just letting them garnish my wages isn't an option. After we get the money together for my filing, the other half will need to file as she is in much worse financial condition but we were able to keep up with cards for longer.

I assume you aren't married then because you aren't filing together?

[BrewCity]

We have been engaged for something like 8 years, I'm sure a quick hitch before filing would look bad but it's something I could ask the attorney.

[mountanddo]

We have been engaged for something like 8 years, I'm sure a quick hitch before filing would look bad but it's something I could ask the attorney.

Well, you could do that since her credit is worse than yours. I did a google search and there is nothing illegal about it. Not sure how your other half would feel about starting out a marriage beginning with a "quick hitch" as you put it. LOL I guess it depends on why you have waited for 8 years. But if you are planning on getting married anyway.....

[BrewCity]

It's just been one of those things were there is never any money and we keep saying we'll do it next year. She would probably laugh if I suggested it and would say, oh so this is what it takes. First it was going to be a normal wedding, couple years later it was going to be Vegas for a long weekend, then the last couple years it's just been like lets go to the court house and get it over with.

[ValleYum]

Hell, I would get hitched! If you chose Federal BK exemptions (avaiulable in WI) you can double them all and protect more property and cash with that wonderful WildCard (if not trying to protect much equity in a homestead) AND only pay 1 lawyer bill!!



Start out your marriage with a stop at the Bankruptcy Laundromat and come out 90 or so days later with your Fresh Start!!

As always, your washer and dryer's debt cleansing abilities may vary and you should check with your attorney!!

[mountanddo]

You are too funny Valleyum! Actually starting off your marriage with two new fresh starts might just be the thing to do. Now if you get married JUST for that reason I might say no but if you were going to do it anyway why not start out on the right foot?

[oregonpilot]

OK VY how come my washer doesn't look ike that.

Brew....We got married last Nov. after the 341 and before discharge & closing. My atty said do it..no problems.
We had talked about getting married for yrs...we had been together nearly 10 yrs. I was scared to take that leap again. Got married in the living rm of a local judge. She was in her judges robe and her fluffy slippers. It was great.

Yrs ago when i finally fessed up to him that i was in financial trouble and trying to keep myself & my business above water using my credit cards. He separated his financial stuff from mine. He had put my name on his house the yr B4 when we talked about getting married and i said, why would we want to do that...LOL.
He took my name off his house and it was 2 yrs after that , that i filled for BK...was still trying to work things out with my finances and finally decided there was no way with the small income that i had was i going to get out from under the debt. (big medical & credit card)

[BrewCity]

Essentially we are married, just haven't made it official so this might not be the worst idea. We have been living together, paying our bills together and merging our incomes into the same bank account for at least 7 years. Everyone has been bugging us to get married for a few years now, the question would be though, how would any wedding gifts be treated in the BK?