We are having to do this.
We are also very confused and scared because everyone one wants huge sums of money up front to help us. We dont have huge sums of money.
All of our debt is medical. and mine. My credit has been shot to hell from passed (now paid off)credit card debt.
When I say filing for Bankruptcy I mean we want to do the version where we still pay on it. I cant remember if it is 7 or 13...
Do we HAVE to have an Attorney?
My husband works in Human Resources at a Law Office. He has been directed to a few outside Lawyers(he is in defense law and big corp law). the person He had been working with is not returning our calls.
My Mother in law got some mail from a collections agency yesterday and sent my hub an email freaking out about it. I understand why she is freaking out. They have been trying to coach us financially. So this is a piece of pretty upsetting mail for them.
We knew we were going to have to do this at the end of this year. My medical is almost 100k debt to us. This is what happens when you get sick and dont have insurance. If I could go back and buy myself a decent 300 dollar plan before I got sick.
Anyways How do you go about filing Bankruptcy....Where do I start?
I want to hit again I dont want to ditch my debt...I owe it. I just need help seeing what EVERYTHING is...instead of having thirty different companies call me daily confusing me on the what when where and why...I was in and out of the hospital alot for about two years...so when the bills started piling up I got overwhelmed with it all. We have been told this is best for our situation.
Another vote to be cautious and say NO to bankruptcy here.
You want to pay your debt. You can only pay what you can pay.
Look into Dave Ramsay and the debt snowball. It's worth a few bucks for a used copy of O. of his books.
You CAN clean this up yourselves without consolidation or bankruptcy...please look into doing just that!
Ok - first, WHO wants large sums of money upfront? Attorneys you are interviewing to help you?
Please, reconsider filing. Talk with advisor about your options before filing. This should really be an absolute LAST resort - and even when you think you have exhausted all options, you haven't.
Have you heard of Dave Ramsey? Please contact him, visit his website, read his books, listen to his show for FREE, and do all of them before making a decision.
If you do decide to file, yes, you should have an attorney to help you.
**ETA: I didn't say a Chapter 13 wasn't "fine" - what I said was to HIGHLY reconsider filing for bankruptcy of any kind. I come from great experience in helping those who want to file.
I wish you the best.
You need to call and consult with a few attorneys that handle medical bankruptcies. I see filing on your own like going to the doctor without insurance. (Just something you don't want to do again.) :)
Most lawyers will require you to pay the full amount before they file for you, but they usually set-up a payment plan with you BEFORE you actually file. For instance, you make payments now through October and you file in November (after they have your information to work with for about 3-4 weeks). They do this to protect their butts. If you file bankruptcy, you are saying you will not pay any more of your creditors (you choose which ones) and they would become a creditor. I understand attorneys to charge around $2K to do the whole thing. You can also shop around. Ask what their straight fee is and if they have additional misc. fees. Two friends of mine filed near the same time and one paid a flat fee and the other paid a fee and copying fees, phone fees, etc.
Chap. 7 is to walk away from all personal and medical debt completely. Student or federal loans or taxes cannot be included. Chap. 13 is where your debt is consolidated and you pay an % of it.
If it is just in your name and you only do medical bills, your credit will take a beating, but your husbands will not (or so I understand).
Best of luck with your situation. Only you know after consulting attorneys what is best for you and your husband.
I would get a lawyer because they know what their doing. Some offer payment plans. I picked a bankruptcy lawyer out of the phone book.
That would be Chapter 13.
No. You do not require a lawyer. You could even just pay a lawyer to draw up the paperwork... THAT is FAR cheaper.
I filed almost 3yrs ago... I did a Chapter 7. But mine wasn't medical. You can ONLY file 13 on medical/school.
And Scarlett... I ♥ you tons, but when medical debt is piling up, sometimes a Chapter 13 is more than fine. It's a way of consolidation without having to 'trust' a large corporation to handle it.
There isn't a hit on your credit rating with a 13 like there is a 7.
No, you do not have to have an attorney. You can get the filing papers from your State Dept of Revenue, maybe even online. You can fill them out yourself and file yourself. You do pay the filing fee to the State but that's all. No attorney's fees. Just make extra sure you are thorough and include all the accounts you need to, since you do get confused about all the creditors. Research online yourself to make sure you follow all the steps you need to. Good luck.
You need to hire an attorney to do it correctly and not get in trouble down the road. The attorneys do this all the time and know how to do it for less expense and with the least stress.
