Thank you for giving me the opportunity to assist you. I encourage you to ask me for clarification, if you are not clear with my Answer.

Question: My husband is in stage 3 of lung cancer and is going through his second round of chemotherapy. He was diagnosed in october of last year and underwest chemotherapy and radiation for about 3 months. a few months later, he was told he was in 90% remission. Now this year, he lost his job in august and lost his insurance and is now working with the veteran's administration and is in chemo again, this time even stronger. he has been approved for social security disability but won't receive his first payment until mid february of 2012. he will also begin receiving a pension plan in the next ten days for life.

i owe about 30,000 in debt and he owes about 15000 in medical bills.

my questions is, since we do not know when he will pass, should i go ahead and file my bnakruptcy alone? THEN will i be left to pay his medical bills in probate? we've only been married since june, 2010. he has no life insurance. he should qualify for veteran's compensation but we have not yet applied. he is currently on unemployment and i am on disability. i am 52 and he is 61.

Response 1: I am truly sorry to hear about your situation. The better course would be to go ahead and file for bankruptcy jointly to get rid off your debts and his debts so that you do not have to deal with his creditors/debt collectors when he passes. If his name is XXXXX XXXXX one on his property, he should go ahead and prepare a new deed and add your name to the new deed so that when he passes, there would be no need to probate the estate in order to get a clear and marketable title to the real estate. The new deed would be identical to the old one, the only difference being the grantor and the grantee. He would be the grantor transfering the property to you and him as the grantees as tenants by the entirety.

Or, should we file a joint bankruptcy so neither of us have any debts in the event of an impendinug passing and then i won't be stuck with the debts, i don't know if i wilkl be stuck with any of his debt since we don't have any joint debt other than one medical bill

Response 2: See my previous response. Even if you would not be responsible for his debt, his creditors may file a claim against his estate. So, joint bankruptcy would eliminate that.

or should i forget benkruptcy and just get on the deed as a joint tenant so that i WILL have the house in my name if he passes. My attorney has told me that if i am a joint tenqant, we could avoid court supervisef probate or probate at all. we live in indiana.

Response 3: No, you should not forget about bankruptcy. See my previous responses on the matter.

You would be eligible to file for chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, if you meet the means test--the income test. If your income is equal to or less than the current income guidelines for your family size in your state, you would be eligible to file for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy all things being equal. In Chapter 7, if the Court grants you a discharge your debts will be wiped out with few exceptions such as student loans and some taxes. You would get a clean state, a fresh start.

These are the current income guidelines for State of Indiana:

Household of one person $ $40,135.00
Household of two persons $51,104.00
Household of three persons $59,028.00
Household of four persons $69,226.00
Add $7,500.00 for additional individual

The filling fee is $306.00. You may able to waive this filing fee if your income is 150% below the current poverty guidelines. Click here for current poverty guidelines:

http://www.uscourts.gov/bankruptcycourts/resources.html

You must receive budget and credit counseling from an approved credit counseling agency and obtain a Certificate of Credit Counselling to be filed with your bankruptcy case. The agency will review possible options available to you in credit counseling and assist you in reviewing your budget. Different agencies provide the counseling in-person, by telephone, or over the Internet.

It is usually a good idea for you to meet with an attorney before you receive the required credit counseling. Unlike a credit counselor, who cannot give legal advice, an attorney can provide counseling on whether bankruptcy is the best option. If bankruptcy is not the right answer for you, a good attorney will offer a range of other suggestions. The attorney can also provide you with a list of approved credit counseling agencies, or you can check the website for the United States Trustee Program office at http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/ccde/cc_approved.htm

After your case is filed, you must complete an approved course in personal finances. This course will take approximately two hours to complete. Your attorney can give you a list of organizations that provide approved courses, or you can check the website for the United States Trustee Program office at http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/ccde/de_approved.htm

You may also be able to waive the credit counseling fees based on your income. The credit counseling agency that you would choose would make this determination.

Consult a local bankruptcy attorney for further explanations of your rights and responsibilities.

The sites below are good resources for finding bankruptcy attorneys in your area:

http://www.nacba.org/

http://www.naca.net/

http://www.justia.com/

http://www.lawyers.com/

If you cannot afford an attorney, then the next best alternative will be to use bankruptcy petition preparer. Bankruptcy petition preparers prepare bankruptcy forms but they cannot give you legal advice because they are not attorneys. Click on the links below for some of the bankruptcy petition preparers. You can do some searches on Google or Yahoo if you do not like the ones on the links below.

http://bridgeportbankruptcy.com/bridgeport/index.asp

http://usabankruptcyassociates.com/usabk/moreinfo.asp#wedo