We live in California. My husband will be laid off at the end of this month. He currently has a pension, and I am working. He is 62 and I am 64. His pension and my salary can only cover the mortgage, HELOC and regular monthly expenses, insurance payments, utilities, etc.

We owe a significant amount in credit card debt now. Because of the downturn in the market our house is now worth approximately $100,000 less than the combined mortgage and HELOC loan. We will need both of our cars (2001 models and paid off) for my work, and for my husband to pursue work, doctor appointments etc. We do not own anything of value except for my wedding rings. Our furniture and clothing are older. We cannot move from the area because of my job and the fact that I help (significantly) with the daily needs of my 87 year old ill mother, and have been paying for her medication and groceries.

Obviously, we have paid our bills our entire married life (32 years), and things have now spiralled out of our control. We are not past due on any bills yet, but when my husband's job ends at the end of the month, I will not be able to pay any of the credit card payments.

What would be our situation in filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. How long does it take. What can we keep if we file? How soon would our creditors be notified if we file? How soon before I would be able to stop payments?

As soon as I am eligible for my full Social Security (just over 2 years now), we would want to move from the area. Could we sell our home if we have kept up the mortgage payments during and after bankruptcy?

Any help you can give would be appreciated. We have to make a decision very soon.

Any help would be appreciated. As you can see - we are totally new to this and desperate to know the best course of action.

I think most of your questions can be answered on this website:

www.bankruptcyinformation

Very disappointed in the response. Seems as if I was just directed to a commercial site, hoping I would contact someone there.

Seems as if my questions were probably not even read.

I am sorry you feel like that. Yes, your inquiries were read. Every situation is different. Would you have been happier if I had said to contact a bankruptcy attorney. Quite frankly, I believe these situations must be fine tuned, taking into acccount all assets and liabilities. Also, there are many different types of bankruptcies.

I had hoped after reading the website you would come back with more positive ideas on your situation.

Ms tickle

What you can keep depends on what state you live in ( if in the US) you did not even say where you were at.

There are exemptions allowed.
I do question "keeping" the house, since in two years you can't sell it, if it is worth 100,000 less than what you owe, so how do you plan on doing that??

But when you file, you provide a list on a specific form of all the debtors and their address. Normally within a week to two weeks of filing the debtors are notified, but once you file, you are giving a case number, if any debtor calls you merely give them that case number, the phone number of your attorney and tell them not to contact you further ( they can not contact you after you file)

If you can keep the cars will depend as noted on their actual value, Normally book value, compared to the exemption.

The first thing you have to do is a debt to income ratio by the new bankruptcy laws to see if you can even file.

Most people stop paying the debts that are going to be discharged, a few months before they file, but you stop making all of the payments for sure as son as you file.

You will have to keep paying all for the house mortages if you intend on keeping the house.