Being sued by credit union, long but need help

[allgoingwron]

I haven't been on here in a while. My husband and I were going to file chapter 7 at the end of last year. We owed about 60K in cc's and had a piece of property that we couldn't keep which has a balance of 65K.

Sadly my husband passed away at the end of Dec. He had life insurance so that puts filing BK out of the question. I have never worked, am 38 years old, and as much as I am embarrassed to admit this, did not even graduate high school. The only income I receive now is SS survivors benefits and I have the life insurance to take care of me and our 4 children.

I know in my state I am not responsible for debts incurred in his name only but that still leaves me with about 30K in debt to pay off and the property 65K.

I went to talk to our lawyer and he said that even though he put a lot of work into getting our case ready he would not charge me extra to write letters and work on my behalf to get settlements from the remaining creditors. Which I think was BS but it had only been a couple of weeks since my husband passed and I didn't care, I just wanted it to go away.

That was in January. Last month our credit union, which we have a line of credit loan with, called and left messages that I needed to call them back by such and such time and day. I called my lawyer to find out what I should do and he never got back to me. Well today taped to my door was a business card for a process server and for me to call them. I am assuming it is for the credit union and they are ready to sue. The hitch with this debt is, I am not sure if I ever signed anything on this loan. I found our original paperwork and my husband is the only one who signed it. We have had it for many years though and i don't recall if I ever signed something that puts me on the loan or not.

This lawyer is a joke. He never calls back and I'm thinking if I ask him about this, he will offer to take care of it for a fee of course. I am not sure what my options are for this. Do I bring it to him? Do I take it to another lawyer, even though I have already paid money to the other one. Can I try to fight it myself, if so what steps should I take?

Thanks if you've made it all the way through this, hope someone can help.

[xxbrowns]

Allgoingwron: I don't have any knowledge in this, but I wanted to say that I am sorry about your husband and your situation. I am sorry for your children too. I know someone will be along here shortly to give you advice. Prayers to you. Stay positive. It'll all work out.

[BKAttyMI]

Well, you paid the original attorney to prepare a bankruptcy case for you, he/she did that, then offered to further send out settlement letters without charging you an additional fee. It would appear to me that the time you paid for of the attorney's has been spent and then some. Of course he or she will want an additional fee for additional work. Visiting an attorney to determine the validity of this debt in your name would be a good idea. If you don't like the attorney you used previously, see a different one. In the meantime, make sure none of your money or assets are tied up with the credit union.

[allgoingwron]

I don't see how my money was spent and "then some". I paid the atty. to prepare my paperwork, file and represent me at the 341 hearing. When he told me he would do the collection settlement letters, all he had done on my behalf was start to prepare the paperwork. I haven't heard from him since that day, he won't return calls so I have no idea if he has done any letters to any of the creditors or not.

I would like to use a different atty but am I just out the money I have paid him already? Do I have any recourse to get a partial refund of the money I paid him?

[allgoingwron]

double post

[BKAttyMI]

You'll have to read your original fee agreement regarding attorney fees, you should be able to recover any filing fees you paid since the case was not filed. Usually if your paperwork has been started, attorney fees are non-refundable. Think about it, an attorney bills out at $175+ an hour, that means each petition is 4-5 hours worth of work depending on your area and petition, once that time has been expended, it is non-refundable. That time includes phone calls, emails, letters, document review, etc. If you are not getting returned calls, go to the office and demand a refund of your filing fees and a copy of your file, but I would highly doubt you'll get any attorney fees back.