hubby laid off yesterday and will receive 6 mo severance. File now or wait?

[nillabeans6]

[Flamingo]

Your husband's severance package is his income for the next six months as it will be what he was receiving monthly from his company. If you have medical benefits through his employer, they will probably end at the end of ths month or the end of December unless agreed otherwise between your husband and his employer. Your family will be eligible for COBRA at that time. He will not be able to get unemployment due to his severance package (until it runs out after six months). You cannot file a Chapter 13 unless you have income and at this point your husband will only have his severance amount for six months. I suggest consulting with a few other attorneys at your earliest possible convenience.

[mrbsf]

The first thing I would do is consult another attorney. Not only for the legel fees, but also for the unprofessional attitude given you by the paralegel. Since your husband was laid off just yesterday and your 6 months pregnant, my instinct would be to wait about 3 months. This way your previous 6 months household income could be slightly less and you could assess all the medical costs associated with your delivery.

Also, you would have a household of 8 people, which would increase the chance of you qualifying for Ch. 7 under the means test. Best of luck.

[CindyLou]

I say WAIT! You never know what kind of medical bills a pregnancy or new baby could incur! Even one day in the NICU for observation could rack of tens of thousands! Don't mean to be an alarmist, but please talk to your attorney and make sure that you will be ok waiting.....then once your delivery is done and all are healthy, then file.

[justbroke]

I'm learning that's it's best to wait as long as you possibly can. Especially when you're trying to distance yourself from things like a.) cash advances, b.) large purchases, and c.) high income (bonuses, lump sums).

[ssdsco]

Without knowing much about your situation it sounds like you won't have any income from 02/09-07/09, maybe a few months of a new job or unemployment ins. pay for a month or 2. You should qualify for chapter 7 in August 2009 especially with 8 in the household. . As others have said you'd have a better handle on the medicals expenses by then. You'd definitely want to find a good attorney that you like to review your situation.