Well the last several weeks, store sales have been dismal. I’m not able to pay myself (Which is how our house payent is paid) and based on input from multiple bankruptcy lawyers, I am not paying anything other than necessary bills. Like electric, etc. I am not paying vendors, credit cards, etc.
This is from a two-fold reason… first the income just isn’t there. But, what I found from the internet as well as the attorneys we spoke to, if you pay some bills and not other this can be seen by the court as preferential treatment. The court can actually take that money back to disperse it evenly.
Here’s an example… say I pay one credit card $1000, andother one $500 and skip a third one. The court can see this as preferentail treatment to certain creditors and take the money back from the two I paid. I suspect you don’t see it for credit cards… but say you repay a family member, or pay off a car. This can lead to trouble. The court usually looks back about 6 months, but can request much farther back.
Be sure to check out some of the books I recommended in This Post for details or more bankruptcy info.