[bankrupt]

My wife and I have managed our finances pretty good, not great, but highly dependent on my good paying job... which I just lost. I suspect that it could take over a year to even get a 75% of my prior pay level :(

House is at least 85k upside down {if even sellable}, 1st mortgage and home equity loan, most of which was used to fix the house, not all, but most. Loans and house in my name alone.

My car, about 10k upside down, owe 25k. It would absolutely kill me to lose this car, but the payments at this point are unaffordable. Once again, in my name alone.

My boat, also about 10k upside down, owe 28k. I could easily let it go away. Interesting note about this, I did not buy a trailer as I live on a lake. Again, my name only

Wife's car, maybe 5k upside down, low mileage, great condition. In her name, with me cosigned on the note. Her credit is pretty good, she has no unsecured debt.

My only used unsecured debt is 4k on a 5k visa card. Here's the irony, they wanted to give me 10k, and I told them make it 5, LOL. Never carried a balance until last year, when we had a couple of surprise expenses.

I lied, I have a gas card that is paid off each month.

Also have a couple of store credit cards with some pretty large limits and no balance.

Applied for a new VISA through another gas company after receiving layoff notice. I have no idea what the credit limit will be, but my intention is to use that card a couple of times, pay it off and stash it.

Saw my personal attorney who does not due BK, and told me he would recommend one in about a year, but advised me to NOT talk to any of the creditors, nor make any more payments on the secured debt. Said they are likely to repo the car, the mortgage company will start foreclosure, but it would take over a year before I'd need to find another place to live, and would be shocked if they repo'd the boat thinking my estimated value is too high, and without a trailer, wouldn't know what to do with it. He also suggested that other clients of his have maxed out their charge cards at least 4 months before filing, but that wasn't something he could suggest we do.

Now for the questions {assuming I don't return to reasonable work anytime soon}

is chapter 7 the most practical solution, and is a year from now reasonable? Will we likely file in my name alone.

Do I totally ignore the creditors calls until a summons is issued?

is there any way to keep the car that makes sense?

What process and how long will it take for the boat and/or car to be repo'd

How about using my unused unsecured store credit cards?

What about converting our small joint investment account to cash?

What kind of IRS impact will I have in 2010 and beyond?

How much should the BK attorney cost?

What impact on my wife's car with me as co-signer?

It just kills me after spending years getting to such a happy place with nearly perfect credit to all of a sudden watch it this quickly unravel. After reading a lot of the advice here and other places, want to be proactive it protecting my family as much as I possible can. Thank you for this site and the great advice that is put out here.

[ScottGem]

I will say one thing, never ignore creditors. Be up front with them and they will work with you. Ignore them and they will go after you harder.

[George_1950]

bankrupt asks:

Is chapter 7 the most practical solution, and is a year from now reasonable? Will we likely file in my name alone. Chapter 7, yes; in your name, only; timing is always a consideration as you must be able to account for income and assets for several years before the filing date.

Do I totally ignore the creditors calls until a summons is issued? You could offer to return collateral to a creditor, or you could just use it.

Is there any way to keep the car that makes sense? Your wife's car, right?

What process and how long will it take for the boat and/or car to be repo'd No one knows.

How about using my unused unsecured store credit cards? Forget credit cards; use cash, only.

What about converting our small joint investment account to cash? Do you need to spend it? Is it protected by your state's exemption law?

What kind of IRS impact will I have in 2010 and beyond? I don't know.

How much should the BK attorney cost? Around $1,000

What impact on my wife's car with me as co-signer? Probably none as long as her payments stay current. Lender probably cannot repo on a note that is current.

[bankrupt]

Is chapter 7 the most practical solution, and is a year from now reasonable? Will we likely file in my name alone. Chapter 7, yes; in your name, only; timing is always a consideration as you must be able to account for income and assets for several years before the filing date.Since so much of the income went for maintaining the secured debt, not going to be real hard

Is there any way to keep the car that makes sense? Your wife's car, right?It was my car I was asking about, attorney and I argued about this asset as I want to be able to keep it, he said why would you just throw away 10k on an inanimate object

How about using my unused unsecured store credit cards? Forget credit cards; use cash, only.I think the attorney was hinting at without encouraging it as legal advice, making purchases now to be discharged later. Not interested in the moral aspect of this, but the legal aspect

What about converting our small joint investment account to cash? Do you need to spend it? Is it protected by your state's exemption law?That's one question we did not ask the attorney. Co-Worker of my wife's apparently went through a similar situation and he suggested that converting it to cash over several months would be ideal

What impact on my wife's car with me as co-signer? Probably none as long as her payments stay current. Lender probably cannot repo on a note that is current.no reason why we couldn't keep her payments up.