Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Tennessee

My wife and I filed bankruptcy in late 2008. In Sept. 2009 I was hospitalized for 31 days with the H1N1 virus, then in mid 2010 she had to be hospitalized and have 90% of her colon removed. We have approx. $20,000 in medical bills that we simply dont have money to pay. Is there anything we can do that will keep us out of court and jail? I filed for disability benefite in May 2010, and am currently awaiting a hearing. Once this gets started we will be able to make payments on these bills, unfortunatly the companies we owe aren't wanting to wait. Please help


Asked on 12/21/11, 2:31 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Ryan Nevin Nevin Law Firm

First of all, you do not need to worry about going to jail. You cannot go to jail for not paying your debts, except for fraud, which is not your case. Creditors may threaten you with jail, but they are lying and just trying to scare you into paying them.

Because you filed bankruptcy in 2008, and if you were discharged, then you cannot do a Chapter 7. If your 2008 case was a chapter 13 then you can do another 13 with no restrictions. However, if it was a chapter 7, then you can file for a Chapter 13 plan and be a 100% plan. If it is less than 100% payment on your debt then you won't receive a discharge. Therefore, you can have a payment plan that will be anywhere from 3 to 5 years to payoff the $20,000 in debt.

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Answered on 12/21/11, 8:56 pm


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