HELP. Need advice.

[CalBroke]

We filed for Ch. 7 in early September and now have Meeting of the Creditors in early October. We are in Northern California.

Friday we learned that my wife has cancer and will need immediate surgery. We don't have insurance. We will be hit with huge bills that we obviously cannot afford.

What do we do? Are we going to be forced into another bankruptcy due to her medical bills?

Everything looks so bleak.

CalBroke

[basketsbears]

I am sorry to hear of your wife's cancer. I don't have any advice, but wanted to know I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

[despritfreya]

Post petition medical bills cannot be added to the current case. If those bills are going to be unmanageable, my suggestion is do not show up at the 341. This will most likely result in the dismissal of the case. Once dismissed, you can file a new case (assuming you qualify under means testing) but will want to wait until treatment is as completed as possible. Waiting will minimize future "post petition" medicals that you will be responsible for.

Do not file case #2 on your own. There are issues with doing what I am suggesting and, while the issues are not a big deal, you will want an attny to handle the case to make sure they are properly addressed.

Our prayers are with you and your wife.

Des.

[tobee43]

Calbroke, i'm so sorry to hear about the news of your wife. i very much understand, as we just went through the same situation after our bk was completed. fortunately, for us, tho, my mate was now on medicare, plus a supplimental b/c/bs so we were extremely fortunate about the bills incurred over this past year. (which exceeded well over 500k).

i want to tell you to reach out to the american cancer society. they will be able to help you get the help for your wife and where to go to financial help. right now, she is going to need you 200% so i would consider doing what des suggested. you can always open a new case because you certainly do not want to leave out what could likely be very large amounts you may owe as the outcome of her treatment. when we filed we had well over 200k of outstanding medical bills, and unfortunately for us, we had a second round to deal with, but this time we were lucky enough to have the coverage in place.

my thoughts and prayers will be with you!

and welcome to the forum!

[Pandora]

So sorry to hear about your wife Calbroke - thoughts and prayers are with you and yours.

[Drazil65]

So sorry to hear about your wife. You will get good advice on this forum and even more support. Do what you need to do and stay here with us while you go through this with your wife. We are a very caring bunch here and we all know how overwelming life can get. Your top priority right now is your wife, my prayers and thoughts are with you. Keep us updated and the best to you.

[AngelinaCat]

My heart and prayers go out to you both!

[pamkev]

Such sad news take care of what is most important, your wife

[TheBajan]

Des has given you the best advice. We will keep you and your wife in our thoughts and prayers as well. Please keep us updated... Welcome to the forum.

[HHM]

CalBroke

That sucks, sorry to hear about your situation.

As Desp points out "you can" blow off the 341 meeting and that "should lead" to your case being dismissed. It is standard procedure that if a debtor fails to appear at the 341 meeting, the case will be dismissed, but doing so is not required and if the case is an obvious asset case, it won't be.

Whether you "ought" to do so is a different question. You need to sit down with your attorney and figure out the optimal course of action. There is a reason you are filing BK, we don't know what your status was prior to filing, and those reasons still exist.

The issue is one of timing. Is the Cancer treatment and recovery going to be relative quick, (less than a year), or is it going to take a much longer time? Also, as has been pointed out, there are some options and assistance for those that can't afford treatment.

[keepsmiling]

My understanding of Charity Care is that if you have retirement funds, you are excluded.
Talk about a rock and a hard place.
Just checked and that is correct- at least in NJ.
Seems to me including those costs in a bk are a better idea.

[tobee43]

CalBroke

That sucks, sorry to hear about your situation.

As Desp points out "you can" blow off the 341 meeting and that "should lead" to your case being dismissed. It is standard procedure that if a debtor fails to appear at the 341 meeting, the case will be dismissed, but doing so is not required and if the case is an obvious asset case, it won't be.

Whether you "ought" to do so is a different question. You need to sit down with your attorney and figure out the optimal course of action. There is a reason you are filing BK, we don't know what your status was prior to filing, and those reasons still exist.

The issue is one of timing. Is the Cancer treatment and recovery going to be relative quick, (less than a year), or is it going to take a much longer time? Also, as has been pointed out, there are some options and assistance for those that can't afford treatment.

the really sad thing about that, is one never knows because while one may beat the cancer; the treatment in itself causes many terrible side effects that may not show up for months after the treatments stop...whether it's raditation or chemo or in many cases like ours, both. also, what we made considered a "routine" cancer can result in many complicatons so it's relatively impossible to tell if it could be a year, or less, or more. all i can tell you is this, when we think we are in the clear, something else pops up ....since cancer is the devil and it's treatment it's brother. one, just needs to be prepared for the fight of their lives....that's all i can say living it very day.