Payment of family member legal costs

[steve33773]

What is the name of your state? Florida

A family member had legal troubles and we ended up using our credit cards to pay his legal expenses and restitution ot the court. This was over 18 months ago and he cannot repay us. We are both in our 80s and have only social security and a small pension to live on. We are financialy strapped with around $50k in credit card debt because of this. An attroney told us we could not file bankruptcy because the debts were incurred for a family member. Is this correct? What can we do...we can hardly afford to pay for our food let alone perscription meds.

 

[Ladynred]

That's just incorrect. It doesn't matter what or who you incurred the debt FOR, as long as it wasn't illegal or fraudulent, the debt can and would be discharged. No matter WHY you got there, its on YOUR credit cards and its YOUR debt. In your situation, with that much debt, bankruptcy would be your best option. Get rid of that burden and take care of yourselves