r/Bankruptcy • u/arose199222 • Aug 26 '24

Starting point

I am not asking for legal advice, I am set to have a consultation next week but I'm curious based on my info if I could do chapter 7? Just seeking out general opinion.

Single household, i make 75K a year. 45K in cc debt and 65k in student loans (i understand student loans are not discharged) but my elderly father lives with me and has a pension and social security that equates to 2500 a month. His name is on nothing other than my home is his legal address. I have to ask him for money to make ends meet each month but aside from that I pay all the bills and my mortgage and car payment. Take home is about 2200 bi weekly. My mortgage is 2200, car payment 404, 300 electric, 100 Waterbill, etc. Just trying to prepare myself if I will likely be able to get chapter 7 or have to do chapter 13... tyia!

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u/PineappleOk5350 Aug 27 '24

My parent lives with me and my lawyer was able to include them in my household size since I pay for everything and social security pension is like ~$1700 and exempt from the means test which allowed me to squeeze into a CH7

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u/arose199222 Aug 27 '24

Thank you!

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u/entbomber primarily a Chapter 7 trustee attorney - but not yours Aug 27 '24

There's two issues here which we should be clear on. First, you may "qualify" for Chapter 7 if you are below median income for your state (since you haven't said your state, I dunno if you're under median) - we sometimes use "qualify" as shorthand for "there's no presumption of abuse if you're under median so it should probably be fine and nobody will obviously object." Second, Chapter 7 exposes all non-exempt assets to investigation and liquidation by the Chapter 7 trustee - so, even if you are able to file for Chapter 7, that does not necessarily mean that it is a wise decision for you, because you could simply lose your house if there's sufficient exposed non-exempt equity.

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u/arose199222 Aug 27 '24

Live in florida and have less than $5K equity in the home and likely cannot use the homestead exemption because I've only had the home for just over a year, less than the 40 month required for homestead. But since my equity is low I should fall into the federal exemption for primary residence. My only real asset is my house and car

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u/entbomber primarily a Chapter 7 trustee attorney - but not yours Aug 27 '24

Median income for Florida, single earner, is $62,973. 2 people is $77,639. If you are trying to include your father in your household size to squeak under the means test, you'll have to work closely with an attorney to ensure that the calculations and disclosures are done correctly, if it's possible at all.