For debtors contemplating filing for bankruptcy, one of the most common questions that they ask is whether they should continue to make payments on their debts. The answer as with most things in law is that it depends. If you are somebody who has a lot of unsecured debt such as credit cards or medical bills and you have not used your credit cards in the last 90 days, then you probably don’t need to make any payments on your bills as this debt will most likely be discharged in your bankruptcy filing. If however you have incurred a large amount of debt prior to filing for bankruptcy, then you may want to make some good faith minimum payments to your creditor to avoid having one of these creditors file an objection to discharge in your case. If you can show good faith and that the charges were not fraudulent then you are in good shape to receive a discharge.
If you are somebody who is wondering how to deal with your mortgage payment prior to filing for bankruptcy it will depend on whether or not you wish to keep your home after your bankruptcy. If you do not want to retain your home, then you do not need to stay current on your mortgage payments. If however you do wish to retain your home or vehicle for that matter you should make sure you are current on your payments or else your lender make seek to foreclose on your home if you have filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy and are delinquent.
In a chapter 13 bankruptcy you will definitely want to make sure your mortgage payments are up to date. If you are delinquent a chapter 13 bankruptcy can allow you to make up your payments over a period of 5 years. If you have been current on your payments, then make sure to make your payment before your case is filed. Failure to make these payments will cause your mortgage payments to be included in your chapter 13 plan. This is not good because you will end up having to pay trustee fees on every payment their office makes. Having large mortgage payments included in your plan causes you to pay more than you need to. For some people having payments in the plan is unavoidable, for others this problem can be prevented with a little bit of planning.
If you have additional questions please contact a bankruptcy lawyer at Symmes Law Group by scheduling your free consultation today at 206-682-7975
