When is it safe/best time to meet with lawyer and perhaps file bk

[harris]

I am trying to figure out when is the best time to file (if i go that route)
one concern i have is with my tax return and recent transactions

Married . My wife will not be filling .
my debts is credit card about $60,000
assets not counting IRA/401k/457 etc
is about $10,000 Liquid assets

house have not paid mortgage since July 2011.

Non liquid assets that I owen very few
car- honda 2003 condtion fair.




Here are some recent transactions



March 5 2011 put in to IRA 2010-5000, 2011-5000
Marc h 2011 put into wife IRA 3100
July 2011 paid off joint credit card in the amount of $10,000 paid with money from a joint check

stoped using all credit cards in July 2011

For business use
Dec 5 2011 Computer- $1,000.00

Tax refund according to hr block rough guess
EIC- 5,700
additional child tax credit - 2300

We have a property tax refund from min check of $2,800
and we might get another one (dont know)

[btbeme]

Welcome to the forums!

In my opinion, there best time to meet with an attorney is early in the decision stage. I'd do it soon, so you can have a clear roadmap of what you need to do to make this as quick and easy as possible and come out the other side with your best chance for success.

As for your transactions - contributions to retirement accounts are fine, as long as you have a history of doing so. Generally, anything older the a year won't draw big scrutiny, but there can be exceptions. Since you can file using either state or federal exemptions, it would appear that your tax refunds, etc should likely be safe. What is in your retirement accounts should also be safe.

Go see an attorney soon. They can give you a very clear sketch of when and how. In general, though, I'd say you are in pretty good shape.

[bcohen]

Only an attorney can best advise you as to planning your eventual bankruptcy filing, however we can give you some general pointers. Depending on your plans for the house, and whether or not there's a HOA, that could determine whether or not you can file in the forseeable future.

If your ultimate desire is to walk away from the house, and there is a HOA, then you're probably best to wait until AFTER the foreclosure to file. This is because banks can delay foreclosing when there's a HOA (since they don't want to pay the monthly dues, be on the hook for special assessments or penalties, etc) and some HOA's will go after the owner of record (you) even if you surrendered the house in bankruptcy and no longer live there.

With regards to your retirement account contributions, that will not be a problem unless you have never contributed before, and are doing this solely to shield the money from your creditors. If you have been contributing regularly, there will not be any objection.

Also, with regards to your credit cards, you can safely quit paying them once you are sure that you will file for bankruptcy. It generally takes more than 6 months for the credit card companies to entertain the idea of suing, and generally takes a year or more before they actually do.

If your ultimate desire is to live payment-free in the house for as long as possible, then it's a good idea to wait until the bank initiates foreclosure action, an file for bankruptcy, which will stay their action. Of course, if there is a HOA, you will have to keep the dues and special assessments paid (and keep the lawn maintained) until the bank completes foreclosure and transfers title to its name. This can be a problem if you move out and are then paying rent somewhere else, and cannot afford to keep paying HOA dues/fees on a house that you no longer live in.