where's the down side??

I'm in California and I'm failing to see the negatives to filing bankruptcy, but would love to hear of some if they're out there ...

You see, in order to prepare herself for the child support payments ending next year (YEAH!!!!), my husband's ex-wife declared bankruptcy and was legally able to get out of her court-ordered debt owed to my husband's attorney as well as all her consumer debt (17 creditors in all).

Well, we get stuck with the entire lawyer bill, as usual, even though the court ordered the attorney's fees award as a so-called "punishment" for the ex-wife's blatant delay tactics. That punishment really worked, didn't it?

Meanwhile, the ex-wife continues to enjoy lavish vacations, got another new car and is having her whole house remodeled. Why not, right?! When you don't have any more bills to pay, yet you still have two paychecks coming in, plus tax-free child support, you have even more money than pre-bankruptcy times.

I can see why there is talk to reform the bankruptcy laws and I know why people are rushing to file before that actually happens, but in the meantime, is there any hope that this woman will suffer from her irresponsibility that led to this bankruptcy filing?

I mean, C'mon!!!

[Jeter]

That really stinks and I'm not being sarcastic. Unfortunately she is using the system to fraudulently get out of debt. The worst that could happen to her as a result of the BK is bad credit. Doesn't sound like she minds. People like that s*ck!


Jeter

Where is the down-side?

Well as Jeter said there's 7-10 years of always having to say you claimed Bankruptcy, paying a bit of a higher rate for credit till you reorganize, and of course there's always the stigma of it all. Trust me it's not an easy thing to do and live with. But it shouldn't be the kiss of death either.

Let's look at the other side of this. If a poster came to the board for advice, said she/he worked 2 jobs, had 17 creditors, had an attorney fee hanging in the balance, child support was getting ready to end next year, she/he needed a vehicle, and house repairs. Now let's say she/he was advised to take the equity out of the house (refinance or whatever), and fix the house, get a new car while he/she can, file bankruptcy releasing them from the 17 creditors (can't imagine what kind of debt that would be?)

So that would leave them with a higher mortgage payment, and a car payment. If this is the way it went down I can guarantee we all would have said that was damn good advice!!! Certainly if it was a story about your best friend, wouldn't you support them?

And trust me if your working two jobs, raising a child, paying 17 creditors and your bills, club med wouldn't be a bad option! I certainly would consider it.

How can I consider these options of opinion, Because I lived in the same glass house when it came to bankruptcy. I swore up and down, no way no how, bad people, bad people. How dare you be able to wipe out your debt and start over?!?!?! Trust me, one day when you find yourself on that end of the broom stick, you certainly see things in a different light. Car accidents, medical, DIVORCE are certainly the leaders in why people file.

And even tho child support ends next year, supporting your children doesn't.

This is for "A Neighbor,"

Thank you for your reply. However, I would like to fill-in some apparent gaps in my posting that led to some of your conclusions that seem to favor this particular person (my husband's ex) who filed and received bankruptcy.

You stated:
"Let's look at the other side of this. If a poster came to the board for advice, said she/he worked 2 jobs, had 17 creditors, had an attorney fee hanging in the balance, child support was getting ready to end next year, she/he needed a vehicle, and house repairs. ... And trust me if your working two jobs, raising a child, paying 17 creditors and your bills, club med wouldn't be a bad option! I certainly would consider it."

First, this woman does not work two jobs -- I meant "two paychecks" were coming into that household because she remarried. The ex-wife AND her new husband filed for the bankruptcy, though the majority of the debt had been racked up in her name alone.

The 17 creditors comes from taking up and charging up every "approval guaranteed" credit card application that came through the mail. They included several Visas, Mastercards, dept. stores, furniture stores, Sears, gas station cards, etc. She also claimed debts owed to collection agencies whose job it is to collect on past defaulted accounts and/or bad checks.

As for "attorney fees hanging" over her head, REMEMBER -- the fees she owed to my husband's lawyer were ordered by a judge because he felt she had unjustly delayed a simple court hearing and after giving her two separate chances to produce the paperwork he asked for, the judge made his ruling and issued the order to pay our attorney fees. She could have easily avoided this debt by playing by the rules. Ironically, she only owed our attorney $1,000. She paid a bankruptcy attorney $750, plus a $200 filing fee to declare her Chapt. 7. A mere 50 bucks more and she could have paid off her entire court-ordered debt -- do you think she MAY have had an ulterior motive in mind??!! How do you think she would have reacted if my husband attempted to get out of his court-ordered debt i.e. the child support? As if that could ever happen -- there are laws to prevent that, but no laws to prevent this ex-wife's scam.

As for "needing a new vehicle," the ex-wife was driving a car that was less than 3 years old when she bought this latest one. My husband drives a car that is 14 years old and I drive one that is 9 years old. We have no car payments because of this, which is why we choose the option.

As for "repairs" needed to the ex-wife's house, I said in my posting "remodeling" not "repairs." No one NEEDS to have their whole house re-done in mediterranean tiles instead of the new carpet that came with the custom built house that was built four years ago.

And believe me, it's my husband and I who could use the Club Med vacation after deadling with this witch for all these years. The divorce took place over 15 years ago, so it's not a case of a fresh divorce and someone trying to get back on their feet. The ex has had the same job for these last 15 years and she makes a very good living, plus commission checks in addition to her reg. salary. Her husband is a supervisor where he works and also makes very good money. My husband works very hard, but has had only two raises in the last 15 years because he's in an industry where he's one of the oldest employees and he's hit the "ceiling" in pay, and I stay home to care for our kids because daycare would have eaten up my whole paycheck.

This is why we look so forward to the child support ending for good next year. My husband will ALWAYS be a supportive father to his children. We are just tired of helping to support people who have learned to cheat the system, be it the family court system or the federal and state bankruptcy laws.

I hope this gives you a truer picture of my frustration -- and that you can better understand that I would fail to have any sympathy for people who use bankruptcy in this same way.

My husband and I struggle to make our bills (we have two young children of our own, while the ex-wife has one, 17-year-old who we help to support financially and we have reg. visitation, too. plus, by law, she gets to claim the 17-year-old on her taxes and we do not, though we provide financial support as well), but we also deny ourselves many extras to keep a savings acct. for emergencies, which is how we treat our credit cards as well. Maybe if more people did this there would be less bankruptcies and heartache overall.