Can I BK before it all goes bad?

[SunshineGal]

Ouch! If that's the case, can your insurance company hold you liable for the claims while he shouldn't have been covered? If so, than you may want to wait to file.

[JacksDad]

Sounds like you have a pretty good income. Have you completed the means test? Assuming he got dropped from your insurance you would have a very high medical expense, but if you have been paying 5K a month to unsecured creditors, you still might not qualify for a 7. I would nail down whether or not you qualify, and if so that would be the route I would take. Just .. just my opinion.

Good Luck!

My current wife and I make about 120k a year combined. She is not on any of the debt, just an associated user on a few of the cards. We did this on purpose because of the amount of medical debt I had when we got married. She is not on the mortgage but is on the deed. I make about 78k a year.

My pending medicals bill after his coverage stops will be about 58k a year.

[JacksDad]

Ouch! If that's the case, can your insurance company hold you liable for the claims while he shouldn't have been covered? If so, than you may want to wait to file.

Fortunately they have offered amnesty if I report it before the audit deadline of March 31.

[kornellred]

I get the impression that you make far too much money to file under Chapter 7, if you are doling out 5k per month to unsecured creditors. Not an option.

Judges MUST grant a money judgment if a lawsuit is filed. The only way they would not is if you can prove that you do not owe the money the creditors are asking for. Good luck with that.

It is not a crime to default on unsecured debts. Quite frankly, I stopped paying mine because I just plain didn't feel like paying any longer. If you have the stomach and the fortitude, you can play the game with the creditors until they file a lawsuit - which they probably will if the debts are large enough. The Statute of Limitations time clock gets reset if you make even the slightest inadvertent admission of indebtedness. That strategy will never work. You will eventually come to realize that filing for Bankruptcy is actually the correct and smart thing to do.

Your son's well-being is infinitely more important than unsecured debt, but you already know that.

[BCA2009]

My current wife and I make about 120k a year combined. She is not on any of the debt, just an associated user on a few of the cards. We did this on purpose because of the amount of medical debt I had when we got married. She is not on the mortgage but is on the deed. I make about 78k a year.

My pending medicals bill after his coverage stops will be about 58k a year.

Well bsed on that, it sounds like you would definitely qualify. The next question I have for someone more knowledgable on the forum, is how long would you actually have to make the medical payments yourself before you would qualify.

Becasue currently your insurance is paying and the means test is based on your expenses right now (at the time you file). I guess if you had proof of the medical expense you would qualify after one month of making the payment, but that is something you need to ask a lawyer in your area.

[catleg]

He was expelled from HS for not meeting the states minimum attendance requirements for 3 years straight. He was always in and out of the hospital, got held back a grade, and it just become impossible for him to catch up.

It did get a GED before his class graduated.

He has terrible study habits and has no interest in school. He does work full time at Target, but they do not cover pre existing conditions. We were hoping the Government would come thru, but with Brown getting the seat in Mass. it looks like any chance or a pre-existing condition clause in the health care reform bill is toast.

What I'm wondering here, is Target's insurance any good? If he has worked there long enough he may qualify for coverage under HIPAA.

Here is some language from HIPAA (http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_hipaa.html

[JacksDad]

I get the impression that you make far too much money to file under Chapter 7, if you are doling out 5k per month to unsecured creditors. Not an option.

Judges MUST grant a money judgment if a lawsuit is filed. The only way they would not is if you can prove that you do not owe the money the creditors are asking for. Good luck with that.

It is not a crime to default on unsecured debts. Quite frankly, I stopped paying mine because I just plain didn't feel like paying any longer. If you have the stomach and the fortitude, you can play the game with the creditors until they file a lawsuit - which they probably will if the debts are large enough. The Statute of Limitations time clock gets reset if you make even the slightest inadvertent admission of indebtedness. That strategy will never work. You will eventually come to realize that filing for Bankruptcy is actually the correct and smart thing to do.

Your son's well-being is infinitely more important than unsecured debt, but you already know that.

I think what helped me avoid any Judgments when I was fighting some of the 'insurance should have paid these' bills after the transplant, was the fact they were not even qualified to collect in Florida.

All of the debts had been sold so I was dealing with junk debt buyers. I guess they were hoping for default judgments but I responded to the suits by requesting proof the were allowed to even collect in Florida. Out of the 13, only 2 were licensed in the State, and none of them had made the required $50k cash bond with the State Clerk. So I counter sued under the FDCPA. Collectors are not allowed to threaten legal action they are not allowed to take. As soon as they served me they were in violation.

The ones that had filled outside of SOL went away. I even got them off my credit reports 3 years early. .

None of the others were able to provide proof of license or bond and the cases were dropped. Apparently guys that buy junk debt are not big fans of giving $50k in cash to the State of Florida to sit on interest free forever.

My main concern would be dealing with the OC's. I can handle the collectors since they have no idea how to follow the law.

We are getting a new law in Florida to reign in these 'Rogue' collectors:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-rogue-debt-collectors-20100125,0,4241577.story

5k fine and a felony charge for each FDCPA violation, plus access to their books. This will basically drive all the lower level collectors out of the State. What CEO would put there freedom in the hands of one of their $8 an hour phone slaps?

[JacksDad]

Well bsed on that, it sounds like you would definitely qualify. The next question I have for someone more knowledgable on the forum, is how long would you actually have to make the medical payments yourself before you would qualify.

Becasue currently your insurance is paying and the means test is based on your expenses right now (at the time you file). I guess if you had proof of the medical expense you would qualify after one month of making the payment, but that is something you need to ask a lawyer in your area.

This is why I titled my post "Can I BK before it all goes bad?"

Maybe not? from the some of the responses I am getting.

It would be nice to file before I had missed any payments, it if ends up being a 13 who wants a large amount of that debt to be late fees, legal fees, etc?
Also filing against the OC's should prevent the debt from ending up with a bunch of bottom feeding collectors.

[JacksDad]

Also I wanted to thank everyone for the kind responses so far. I have been on forums that wont even acknowledge you until you have 50 posts.

[HGolightly]

The link for the Partnership for Prescription Assistance http://www.pparx.org which is run by the big Pharm companies can be a big help in getting free medications for your son. You have to fill out a bunch of forms and get your doctor to fill out forms as well, but free medication is free medication...

Best of luck to you.

[readytofile]

Sounds like you have a pretty good income. Have you completed the means test? Assuming he got dropped from your insurance you would have a very high medical expense, but if you have been paying 5K a month to unsecured creditors, you still might not qualify for a 7. I would nail down whether or not you qualify, and if so that would be the route I would take. Just .. just my opinion.

Good Luck!

That's what I was thinking. Even now after my bk is over, my husband and I jointly don't have 5k disposable income. I wish!