Bottom line...did you get "relief," or did it ruin your life?

[lizardhead]

I feel like someone who only works part time doesn't have the right to own such expensive animals. I'd owned horses all my life, and they are a real luxury, not a small luxury.

That's a really shitty thing to tell someone that's looking for help. Your condescending remarks were obviously not appreciated. Try thinking before you post.

[Inthestorm]

Yes, it was shitty. If CIT had $25,000 horses and took dressage lessons twice a week, then I can see the point. But these are "grade" horses or mutts that simply trail ride. They are not thoroughbreds that have something go wrong with them every other week!

[Naomi]

Seems like the issue might not be how much the horses are worth, but the expense of keeping them?
Is that what the problem is? I don't have horses so have no clue how much it really costs to keep them.

Inthestorm, I'm also in GA and just started thinking/stressing about filing so I can kind of understand where you're coming from. I'm going to keep reading as much as possible on here to really get an idea of what we can possibly expect.

Have you talked to a lawyer yet? Hopefully, you'll find out that the situation may not be as bad as you think it's going to be.
I hope that things work out for you.

[Inthestorm]

Yes, Dh met with a lawyer yesterday and liked him MUCH better than the first one. At this point, I'm writing down some questions to call because I couldn't be there. It sounds a little better than we expected and he seems to really know what he's doing.

[SobStory]

In the storm, I feel bad for you. I know those horses are part of your family. DH and I do not go to the doctor - we can't afford it. But I take our dog to the vet 2X year plus all her shots, etc. We spend more on her medical bills than ours. But she is the light of our life and it would be very bleak without her. I don't consider her a luxury. I consider her my baby.

[Inthestorm]

I totally understand! We have a 10,000 deductible for which we pay over $600 per month and Dh wants to drop that. Who has anything left for a Dr. bill??? But those four-legged children have to be taken care of. Non-animal people just don't understand, and I guess that's okay. I have a bumper sticker on the back of my trailer that says, "THERAPIST ON BOARD." That should explain it.

[phoenixrisin]

Saying you should get rid of horses because they are an expensive luxury pet/companion is like saying I should sell off my children. Normally people tend to get attached to pets/other people they may know for 20-30 years. Even if you have a hard time affording them- you have to worry about how someone else would treat them, care for them if you got rid of them. And take away a true pleasure in the persons life.

I thought declaring the value of my pets on paper for the lawyer was hysterical.

"1 cat with an attitude problem- $5/OBO"
"3 OTHER cats- priceless"

[SobStory]

"1 cat with an attitude problem- $5/OBO"
"3 OTHER cats- priceless"

LOL, Phoenixrisin. That's hysterical.

In the Storm, that sounds like us on medical insurance. We have a $15,000 per person deductible, and pay $350 a month for insurance for the two of us. Hubby wants to dump this but I refuse. I fear that if we were ever in an accident, they would let us die with no health insurance. Plus, medical bills are a big source of bankruptcy. My sister lost a job and let her insurance lapse. Yep, she had to have surgery. What a financial mess. I can't wait til I'm old enough for Medicare, lol.
In the old days, I didn't mind the huge deductible. I figured we could card it. Well, not now. Anyway, I consider it "disaster" insurance and better than nothing. But hard to cough that payment up each quarter.
Keep us posted on the horses, pls. Good luck.

[Inthestorm]

Well...here's the story so far...Dh saw atty. #2, recommended by a friend who used him and was happy. He liked him as well, much better than atty. #1. We qualify for Ch. 7, and he seemed to think we could keep exemptions we want, including hoofed babies. He even said we should keep the house (which is opposite what he told our friend.) However, work has gone down so suddenly that we are AFRAID to keep the house! I guess he was looking at our past income...but it seems to be no more! We have two mortgages on the house, so it's two hefty payments. He told us to sell a big horse trailer (paid for) and use it to get tires, maintain vehicles, get new water heater, etc. Well..........BIG TRAILER WON'T SELL, and we keep reducing the price! If we keep the house and there continues to be no work...then what??? We don't even know how we're going to come up with the money to pay the attorney!

TOO BROKE TO BANKRUPT........!!!

[phoenixrisin]

Saying you should get rid of horses because they are an expensive luxury pet/companion is like saying I should sell off my children. Normally people tend to get attached to pets/other people they may know for 20-30 years. Even if you have a hard time affording them- you have to worry about how someone else would treat them, care for them if you got rid of them. And take away a true pleasure in the persons life.

I thought declaring the value of my pets on paper for the lawyer was hysterical.

"1 cat with an attitude problem- $5/OBO"
"3 OTHER cats- priceless"

FYI- signed my petition today and had to LOL when I saw what was put for pets "3 cats - $30". I guess I got my point across that the one was worthless, huh?

[jribe]

In the storm, I feel bad for you. I know those horses are part of your family. DH and I do not go to the doctor - we can't afford it. But I take our dog to the vet 2X year plus all her shots, etc. We spend more on her medical bills than ours. But she is the light of our life and it would be very bleak without her. I don't consider her a luxury. I consider her my baby.

us too! We have two dogs that are really like our kids. We'll do anything for them. My husband's grandpa made a comment recently about killing the dogs or something (to save money) which i thought was awful! Some people just don't get it!