Milpitas, CA Bankruptcy Law Firms & Lawyers

That is possible depending on the were the income is at and the reasons for filing ch 13 and not ch 7 to begin with. You need to contact your attorney and make an appointment with them.

The Chapter 7 trustee is not interested in any house with no equity so don't need to worry about the house being sold. In addition, the house is not even part of the bankruptcy estate of your wife because it was transferred to you as part of a divorce. The divorce agreement is between you and your ex-wife and does not bind the creditors so that if you are obligated also on any of the credit cards (i.e., your name appears on the statement) then the creditors can come after you. That would include credit card debt incurred after separation if you are listed as a debtor on the credit card account. That is why all credit card accounts in both names should be closed immediately upon separation to avoid a separated spouse from charging on your jointly-held credit card. Most credit cards are not jointly held so that might not be an issue in your case. It is true that you can then come after your wife to recover any payments you must make to credit card companies for charges she made and for which she was supposed to pay but that will not be easy or cheap. Did you know that you might be able to wipe out the second mortgage? If the value of your house is below the balance of the first mortgage then in Chapter 13, if you otherwise qualify for Chapter 13, then you might be able to avoid the lien of the second deed of trust and discharge the debt for the second mortgage. There is a complication with the fact that your wife's name is on the second deed of trust but you need to speak with an attorney about that issue.

The new attorney may have offered to help you out as a volunteer. But even if the new attorney was paid for the legal services, a flat fee does not allow for unlimited use of attorney time to answer any questions you may have. Find out how much time you have used to see if your retainer has been depleted by the services already provided.