I need a plan for getting ready to file.

[minnesotakent]

What is the name of your state? Minnesota

I filed chapter seven in the spring of 1998 before my wife and I got married.

My wife and I have three children.

We have $120,000 in credit card debt.

We owe about $35,000 on a house valued at around $90,000.

We have two old cars and a minivan we paid about $22,000 for last year.

Our only debt is the credit card debt and the monthly house payment.

We are not behind on any payments.

We have about $20,000 in stocks. We had a lot more money in stocks, but we have been taking from our stocks to make our monthly payments.

Our gross annual income is about $39,000.

What would be the best strategy for filing bankruptcy?

[HomeGuru]

Originally posted by minnesotakent
What is the name of your state? Minnesota

I filed chapter seven in the spring of 1998 before my wife and I got married.

My wife and I have three children.

We have $120,000 in credit card debt.

We owe about $35,000 on a house valued at around $90,000.

We have two old cars and a minivan we paid about $22,000 for last year.

Our only debt is the credit card debt and the monthly house payment.

We are not behind on any payments.

We have about $20,000 in stocks. We had a lot more money in stocks, but we have been taking from our stocks to make our monthly payments.

Our gross annual income is about $39,000.

What would be the best strategy for filing bankruptcy?

**A: you would file a Chapter 14.

[racer72]

You are going to have to wait till the spring of 2005 before you can do anything. You can only file bankruptcy every 7 years.

[minnesotakent]

I thought you could file every six years?

[Ladynred]

You have to wait 6 years from the filing date of your first BK to file CH 7 again. You could, however, file CH 13 any time.

I'm not usually judgmental here, but I have to say that you apparently didn't learn your lesson with the first bankruptcy
Your income is 39K and you have 120K in credit card debt ??? How does one DO that ??? Unless you've got some unusual circumstances, that's just foolish, sorry. Not to mention the fact that you're going to trash your credit, yet AGAIN, with a 2nd bankruptcy on the heels of the first.

MN has a 200K exemption for equity, but I'm afraid a Trustee is going to be VERY interested in that 20K in stocks you've got. Be ready to kiss it goodbye. While that would merely be a drop in the bucket against 120K of CC debt, unless its in a qualified retirement plan, its history.

Are you filing jointly or separately ? Does your wife work ? What is your disposable monthly income ?

[minnesotakent]

Thank you for your reply.

I got married about a year after filing bankrupcy in 1998.

My wife does not work, she takes care of our three children all day.

Very little of the credit card debt is in my name (about $3,000). Most of the debt is in my wife's name (about $117,000).

All of the stocks and our house are both in her name only.

My wife had a lot of money invested at one time. With the large amount of assets she was able to get huge credit lines with various credit card companies. As time went on most of her assets have disappeared and the credit card debt has piled on. Some of her stock investments are worth a lot less now than they were a few years ago due to stocks devalueing over the last few years. She also took money out for expenses. I knew she was taking from her investments at different times to pay the bills, but I had no idea she had taken as much out as she has.

My wife is still in denial about the fact that her money is gone and that we, or she, will have to file bankruptcy. She seems to think this whole thing will somehow fix itelf.

I am thinking that we should sell the van and cash in her stocks and put the money towards our mortgage because Minnesota has the $200,000 housing exemption. If my name is involved, we can't file until late next spring.

I have no idea how much of my salary ($39,000 annually) goes towards living expenses or how much our living expenses total each month.

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to better explain the situation.

[bigun]

Well, if the assets are in her name, you don't need to file.
I'd suggest you see a lawyer about switching non exempt assets into exempt assets and the time frame involved in making such a switch. I wouldn't sell any stocks and prepay the mortgage until you get some legal help.
You really need to sit down and figure out where your money is going. Your wife will need to submit an expense schedule in a bk filing anyway.

I concur with "bigun" don't touch that stock money yet. I have seen very few case were that would not be deemed fraudulent. In which case the BK would dismissed and you be stuck with debt forever.

I have seen one case that allowed such a transaction, but it was for a purchase of a car. The trustee allowed because it reduced the debtors monthly expenses and added to chapter 13 budget.