Can my friend declare Ch 7?

What is the name of your state? Colorado

I am writing on behalf of a friend, my mother's fiance who unfortuantely passed away this past Friday. He is broke with a lot of debt and we'd like some preliminary advice.

- He has about $200,000 in debt, mostly due to his wife letting their house get foreclosed some years ago during a nasty divorce, as well as credit card to pay bills.

- He has almost no assets, only a vehicle worth perhaps $8,000.

- Currently making about $5,000 a year in a simple job as he is between real jobs, but has a job offer across the country that may begin next month. It's not guaranteed and months or years can pass between good jobs.

I feel that if he doesn't declare bankruptcy, his debt will increase and follow him for the rest of his life. He will be unable to support himself, unable to find a place to live, etc. It's an incredible burden as you can imagine. My mother's untimely passing has increased the stress level immensely and he is feeling scared, alone, etc.

What options do you forsee? I don't believe that he'd ever be able to repay the debt, even if her were to work for the next 25 years nonstop. I'd appreciate not receiving replies as to the morality of bankruptcy, because I believe it's a process designed for situations such as this.

[HomeGuru]

Chapter 7.

[Ladynred]

In this place, BK is hardly a moral issue.. its a fact of life in a rotten economy. For the most part, we don't moralize in here

Your friend will never pay off that kind of debt. He'd have to make a HUGE amount of money to even make a dent in it. He's a perfect candidate for CH 7, as HG so briefly stated.

The vehicle value would be determined using a quick-sale figure. You can go for Kelly Blue Book, but it you absolutely HAD to sell it today, what would you REALLY get for it ? Bet its a lot less than $8k.