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    #1

    Paying for an attorney

    My fil is sending us a check in the $1000-1500 "just to help out." He has no idea we are planning to file for ch7, and I'd like to use the money to pay for the attorney. If we deposit the check, and then pay the attorney fees right after, will the trustee have a problem with that? Not sure how they view money that is gifted and then used to file rather than pay creditors.

    Sorry if these are all stupid questions.
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    #2
    MrsM, there are no 'stupid' questions other than the ones you WANT to ask, and then DON'T.

    The way your FIL's gift is handled depends on if it is truly a 'gift' and NOT expected to be paid back, or is a 'loan' and is expected to be paid back at some point.

    Whether a loan or gift, if you wish to pay an attorney with it, that isn't a problem itself. If you have to pay it back at some point, all of you involved need to understand that you won't be able to pay it back in full until after you are discharged from a Ch7. You can pay a little at a time back, say $50.00 or $100.00 each month. But, if you are going to file Ch7, your eventual attorney will tell you to stop pay all credit cards, etc. So you need to not pay this back as well, because it can look like a 'preferential' (paying one creditor and not the others), and worse still, an 'insider' (your FIL is a relative), and the trustee can and will 'Avoid the Transfer'. That is the technical term for it.
    "To go bravely forward is to invite a miracle."

    "Worry is the darkroom where negatives are formed."

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      #3
      Thank you! It's truly a gift, and not something we would pay back. We told him this weekend that we were planning to buy a car (you saw my other thread, I believe), and he called last night and said he sent us a little something to help out, which was completely unexpected. That's why I thought using it to pay for the attorney was a good idea, as we can finance a car no problem (we aren't late on anything--yet--but dh has taken several substantial pay cuts, and is looking at another one in June--we just can't do it anymore, despite the fact that dh has taken on two part time jobs in addition to his one full time job--it sucks).

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