Few days away from filing, any last minute advice?

[ferfermom]

We stopped using and paying on our 12 credit cards May 15, the same day we retained attorney. Slightly over median income in WA state. We are still unsure if we qualify for Ch 7 or Ch 13 yet. We have submitted all the paperwork for review by our attorney's assistant. I am confused, we have never done a means test yet, the online version confuses me. My husband said they will do the means test for us to determine if we can file 7. We have finally saved up enough to file!

What should I do before and after? We have never missed a mortgage or car payment. Am I supposed to contact car & home bank before they hear it from bankruptcy court that we have filed? How do I approach that with the lender? We intend to keep paying on home & car to keep.

Am I supposed to close my bank account? Stop direct deposits? Keep receipts of all my purchases? I have read so many posts my mind is spinning. I don't want to forget any important things to do before I file.

This forum has kept my sanity the past 4 months ! Thank you all !!

[ccsjoe]

ferfermom,

If you intend to keep house and car, then by all means continue those payments curent. As to whether you should contact those two lenders, opinions differ. My personal opinion and experience is that yes, you should, ask for their BK department, and just talk about it and let them know your intent. Just tell them what your account number is and that you are filing for BK, but want to keep the property and will continue making timely payments. Ask them what you should expect from them. I did with our car and everything is going smoothly.

If you have any credit relationship with the bank where you have your main account, then yes, you should move to a bank where you have no credit with. Give yourself time to switch direct deposits.

The only reason I would keep receipts for all purchases would be if you changed your habits drastically, such as using check card for everything and suddenly using only cash, or if you had a major expense that you need to justify as a non-luxury, like a car repair bill. Some people however advise that you should keep all your receipts just in case. I think it is very district specific and your attorney will definitely have a more accurate answer for you.

[SunshineGal]

Review all of your schedules for accuracy, a mistake on the means or I & J could be costly.

[LadyInTheRed]

Review all of your schedules for accuracy, a mistake on the means or I & J could be costly.

That's a biggie. Reveiw the entire petition carefully. Either have the attorney send your petition to you in advance or when you go to sign, ask to be left alone to look through it at your leisure. They may want to flip quickly through the pages, pointing out key areas, but that won't give you time to look closely at everything and make sure there are no errors.

Also, if you have online access to your mortgage account and credit card accounts, print out at least your last six months of statements (or, to save paper, download the images to your hard drive if that's an option). You may or may not need them. Online access often gets cut off when you file, even for the mortgage you will continue to pay.